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2016 Columns
Quarter 1: January thru March ~ Columns #1 - #13

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March, 30, 2016 #13: Trump’s anger and statement on rioting is troubling

Through My Eyes, the Minneapolis Story Continues"
A weekly column by Ron Edwards
featured in the weekly Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder
and Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder News Online

March 31, 2016

Donald Trump is an excellent salesman and showman who mimics the anger voters have at the failed promises of the Washington, D.C. establishment, as he plays to the “we aren’t going to take it any more” voters. He frightens the Republican-Democrat theme of don’t-change-the-status-quo.

Trump is perceived as a man of action, not just words, and voters want action whereas the establishment does not. The Donald knows how to threaten a temper tantrum and mayhem as part of his pitch that scares or excites, drawing many to his crowds, from first-time voters to long-term supremacists.

When you see Trump’s statement that if there are any backroom deals or any attempts to stop his candidacy his people will riot, that is not that much different from Bernie Sanders call for “revolution,” or before that Barack Obama’s call for “transformation” of the United States.

When you see Trump’s statement that if there are any backroom deals or any attempts to stop his candidacy his people will riot, does he mean with marches and protests or with violence?  Does he mean “punch in the face” llterally, or not.  As these are his words, he owes  voters his explanation.  Voters are similarly confused by Bernie Sanders call for “revolution,” or before that Barack Obama’s call for “transformation” of the United States, and Hillary’s claim to want to continue what the President started.  What does she mean?

Showman and entertainer Trump wields his words with shrewd calculation, as did eager leaders of the past, from Caesar and Hannibal to Napoleon, and the legion of 19th Century industrialist barons, and the 20th Century’s eager beavers: Lenin, Stalin, Mussolini, Hirohito, Tojo, Mao Tse Tung, Pol Pot, and the array of Vietnamese leaders from Ho Chi Minh in the North to Diem, Ky, and Thieu in the South, up to today’s wannabes in the Middle East and North Africa.

The Donald has shrewdly watched the shift in standards that now accept things from one group of people and reject the same when done by others. If President Barack Obama, in 2008 and 2012, said his followers would riot if their standard of fairness was not met, they would have said he was not qualified to seeking the presidency. All of Black America would have been indicted.

Donald the showman understands the angry mindset of his audience. The analogy of Hitler storming protesters out of Munich beer halls has intriguing similarities, as he did what many in America now do, both Republicans and Democrats: author a book about his political ideology and future plans and then run for office.

Hitler wrote Mein Kampf , which means My Struggle. He too understood how to play psychological frustration and anger towards politicians who failed to keep their promises. His original title is telling: Four and a Half Years (of Struggle) Against Lies, Stupidity and Cowardice.

Trump has tapped into that anger of today. Many have followed that formula: write a book of political philosophy and goals and then run for office, as did Mao, Lenin, Stalin, Pol Pot, Apartheid proponents and opponents in South Africa, as well as those seeking to be Republican and Democratic candidates for U.S. president.

I have a nominee for an Oscar for best actor in a political campaign for victory in 2016. And if it wasn’t so serious, I’d also nominate him for a political comedian of the year Oscar.

To bring his script to life, Trump has mastered all the skills of an executive producer, director and leading actor, and calls out, “Elect me president of the United States.” He has done very well in marketing himself and building his Trump Political brand.

We, as Americans, need to look inward and ask how is it people accept the expectation he presents with his PT Barnum type campaign (instead of Jumbo the elephant, he has his big airplane).

This presidential election is a serious test of our ability to select a worthy leader for our nation, one who will follow the Constitution, protect the Bill of Rights, and never play us for fools or suckers, working to unite all Americans. Which way will whoever is elected go: follow our constitution and Bill of Rights or follow the traditions of Mein Kamph and Mao’s Little Red Book, which would be bad for all of us and the future of America.

Stay tuned

For Ron’s hosted radio and TV show’s broadcast times, solutions papers, books and archives, go to www.TheMinneapolisStory.com.
To order his books, go to www.BeaconOnTheHillPress.com.

To date: 47 Solution Papers.

Written Monday, March 21, 2016
Published, MSR, Wednesday, March 31, 2016
Posted TMS, Monday , April 4, 2016, 10:25 p.m


March, 23, 2016 #12: In the matter of Jamar Clarks’ death. Has the integrity of the investigation been compromised? In the matter of Jamar Clarks’ death. Has the integrity of the investigation been compromised?

Through My Eyes, the Minneapolis Story Continues"
A weekly column by Ron Edwards
featured in the weekly Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder
and Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder News Online

March 23, 2015

EDITOR’S NOTE:  This column was written March 14, 2016, two days before the announcement that Hennepin County would no longer use grand juries in police involved shootings, starting with the Jamar Clark case, as reported in the Star Tribune of March 16, 2016 (“Hennepin Co. will stop using grand juries in police shooting cases”) the announcement of which was postponed when Jamar Clark was killed. This original column has been adjusted accordingly.

The consequences of the musical chairs by the county and the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) into the death of Jamar Clark continues.  Our community’s concern should be to repair and rebuild institutional relations with integrity in order that the goal of justice is not missed, regardless of how investigation takes place.

A key question for the County Attorney and BCA (Bureau of Criminal Apprehension):  what happens when the record of an eye witness interviewed in mid-November cannot be found, a witness who provided accurate information regarding the events of that early November 15, 2015 morning?  The witness to the death of Jamar Clark actually saw Mr. Clark’s struggle with two police officers that led to his death.  The witness spoke with great detail and specificity. He became the subject of a vendetta by the BCA in order to destroy his integrity and, by extension, to undermine the investigation so the focus would be on Jamar Clark and not the officers.  Both sides, BCA on one side, NAACP/BLM (Black Lives Matter) on the other, have a lot to answer for as we addressed in our January 28, 2016 column.

This was followed by the concerns expressed in our March 2, 2016 column.  Those concerns have not been heeded. As a result, the Minneapolis NAACP and BLM/Minneapolis have allowed their impatience to risk discrediting their integrity and reputations by announcing to the world they were not only there at the very moment of Jamar Clark’s death but had videos of it.  Their credibility relies on producing these videos and witnesses, without which they risk not being taken seriously in the future.

Although two County Assistant District Attorneys have been assigned to begin preparing the Clark case, we now know a grand jury will not be one of their options.  Exercising patience with a non-violent response model and letting the law take its course first to determine if other means of protest are felt necessary to remedy the situation would have prevented the NAACP and BLM from putting their integrity and ability to influence in jeopardy. 
 
The NAACP and BLM losing credibility would be a disaster for Minnesota’s institutions of justice, as they would no longer be counter weights to those standing in the way of inner city justice regarding education, job development and housing progress.  

Regardless of the reviews and reports by the Star Tribune and other white newspapers, there continues to be no update on the status of the Federal investigation into the death of Mr. Clark.  Does this mean, as some suggest, that they are not seeking answers?  If so, that too would be very troubling.  It would be best if the NAACP and BLM would seek to partner with the County Attorney in insisting on a joint submission of the results of the investigation by the several investigative agencies.

The witness in question, in his statement and testimony, was so concise that a political decision was made to avoid the quandary in the justice system caused by the demonstrations.  We know there are those circulating names, including of themselves, as having been live witnesses to the death of Mr. Clark.  They need to step forward.  The BLM and the NAACP receive significant financial support to hold what may be inaccurate positions regarding what happened.  Ironically, Mr. Freeman concluded, before Mr. Clark’s death, that the grand jury will no longer serve in police involved deaths:  “Secrecy, lack of transparency and no direct accountability strikes us as problematic in a democratic society.” 

This problem of transparency and accountability can be resolved if those making claims of being witness to Mr. Clark’s death come forward, as the County Attorney has requested, to give their statements.  Who are on the lists of those claiming to be witnesses? Who is really prepared to testify under oath?  Testifying will clear the air and demonstrate transparency and accountability.

One of the things you learn in the arena of law is that when you are telling the truth you don’t have to be nervous.  In order to more solidly pursue the quest of justice, the spirit of Jamar Clark hovers among us waiting for the testimony of those who actually saw him die.

Stay tuned.

For Ron’s hosted radio and TV show’s broadcast times, solutions papers, books and archives, go to www.TheMinneapolisStory.com.
To order his books, go to www.BeaconOnTheHillPress.com.

To date: 47 Solution Papers.

Written Monday, March 15, 2016
Published, MSR, Wednesday, March23, 2016
Posted TMS, Friday, March 25, 2016, 3:17 p.m

 

LATEST BLOG ENTRY, 4:02 p.m.
February 25, 2016, Blog entry: "Letter to US Department of Justice." Letter revealed how the case has been returned to the MN Bureau of Criminal Apprehension. The integrity of the investigation has been compromised and ruptured.
March, 2, 2016 #9: In the matter of Jamar Clark. Preparing for the Grand Juries
January, 27, 2016 #4: Jamar Clark Investigation Compromised. Investigator sabotages Integrity of Witness.
December, 03, 2015: White supremacists shoot and wound protestors in North Minneapolis
November 26, 2015, Listen and Understand. City Tense After African American Youth, Jamar Clark, Shot and Killed in Police Involved Shooting. Anger builds after shooting. December 10, 2015, An open letter: To Black Lives Matter,  NAACP, and out of town demonstrators.
December, 17, 2015: Whose voice will be heard about Jamar Clark? And when? The struggle for control.
December 24, 2015
: Breaking the heart of a community.  BLM & NAACP  Protestors Attack Black fire fighters and police officers over shooting of Jamar Clark.


March, 16, 2016 #11: University of MN Basketball a Disaster. No tournament invitations again this year.

Through My Eyes, the Minneapolis Story Continues"
A weekly column by Ron Edwards
featured in the weekly Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder
and Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder News Online

March 16, 2016

        "For when the One Great Scorer comes To mark against your
        name, He writes – not that you won or lost –But how you played
        the Game."
                       --- Grantland Rice, white, Dean of American Sports Writers, 1920s, 1930s, 1940s

        "Tubby Smith's knack for rebuilding earns him Sporting News Coach of the Year headline three years after being fired as the
        University of Minnesota’s Head Basketbal Coach,

We are ready once again for excuses prepared to explain another bad University of Minnesota (UM) basketball season, especially the men’s program under Coach Richard Pitino, which continues its free fall. 

This year we purposely remained silent.  We wanted to catalogue the excuses by Minnesota‘s white fourth estate.  We were given many fairy tales from former Athletic Director, the disgraced Norwood Teague. He fired Tubby Smith, a very successful coach every place he has been (including at Minnesota:  averaging 21 wins per season;  five postseason appearances, including three in the NCAA Tournament). 

We wrote of Tubby’ success in four previous columns, success not recognized by the Star Tribune nor the UM, due to the still in vogue practice at the “U” of preferring not to hire African American coaches. See our columns of March, 26, 2015; March, 27, 2014; April 10, 2013;  April 03, 2013.  

Our April 10, 2013 column lists 20 positive Tubby news stories from across the country.  As the 2016 season came to an end, Coach Pitino made the traditional MN move:  blamed the season’s failure on Black players, hence his effort to gain public sympathy for himself by dismissing four African American players within two weeks. 

It is quite clear that Coach Pitino was over matched when he was hired as Head Basketball Coach at the UM, regardless of his mythical “Pitino DNA”.  The reluctance to showcase Black athletes is also seen in MN women’s basketball, where, despite being the most productive player in program history, Black Rachel Banha'sm talents were not exploited as they should have been, nor was she showered with the attention given white Lindsey Whalen. 

If not for Rachel Banham’s outstanding season, including tying the record for the most points in a single game – 60 – the women’s basketball team would have only had ten pure victories.  Banham is from Minneapolis.  The excuse of the women’s Head Basketball Coach (brought in by the disgraced Norwood Teague):  she couldn’t find excellent local basketball talent.

Black athletes are being stripped of scholarships in the men’s program.  It appears there will be a new approach over the next couple of years, and that would be to whiten up the men’s basketball program.  

Facts are facts.  The UM men’s basketball program is in disarray.  Its coach is in over his head.  A new direction is the order of the day.  We know that there are some who will not be happy with this column.  But these facts are real and not myth.  Truth must prevail.

It will be interesting; given the decline in attendance, of how much longer the University can accept the long term failures within its basketball programs.  As we saw and warned of this (as seen in columns listed above), why didn’t the brilliant minds the white 4th estate?  They continue a long standing tradition favoring whiting MN sports teams, pretending when failure occurs in football and basketball, that the blame falls on young, black men and women.

Thank God for the MN Linx, the most significant Level I sports program in Minnesota.  The MN Timberwolves have a bright future, as long as no one screws up by having losing programs due to not developing young players.
 
Stay tuned.

For Ron’s hosted radio and TV show’s broadcast times, solutions papers, books and archives, go to www.TheMinneapolisStory.com.
To order his books, go to www.BeaconOnTheHillPress.com.

To date: 47 Solution Papers.

Written Monday, March 7, 2016
Published, MSR, Wednesday, March16, 2016
Posted TMS, Friday, March 18, 2016, 2:37 p.m.

EARLIER COLUMNS and related articles:

March, 26, 2015: Its Tubby Smith’s fault, or is it? Gopher season is over.

March, 27, 2014: Was it Tubby Smith’s Fault? Gophers miss NCAA Basketball Tournament.

April 10, 2013 Column #15:: Congratulations, Tubby! Texas Tech hires Tubby Smith while U of M keeps looking

April 03, 2013 Column #14: Thank you Tubby for an excellent run! Tubby Smith: a man of principle and integrity.

Tubby Smith's knack for rebuilding earns him Sporting News Coach of the Year
Sporting News, March 8, 2016‎

Earmuffs, Gophers fans: Tubby is coach of the year
Minneapolis Star Tribune, March 8, 2016
From "Fired" to "Coach of the year" in three years -- that's a pretty impressive recovery by Tubby Smith.

At the UM, “his teams averaged 21 victories per year, made five postseason appearances and three in the NCAA Tournament, www.deadspin.com, June 8, 2011 …..  Often one gets a pay raise in such a circumstance. Smith got … “We’ve got to go in another direction.” [Ed nnote: Thus:  You’re fired].


March, 09, 2016 #10: The Donald is not a historian. He doesn’t know what a White supremacist is?

Through My Eyes, the Minneapolis Story Continues"
A weekly column by Ron Edwards
featured in the weekly Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder
and Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder News Online

March 9, 2016

Pull quote: Both parties are imploding, with Republicans seemingly doing it faster

Donald Trump, leading candidate for the Republican presidential nomination, is a lighting rod across the country. Trump plays both sides against the middle in his search for a wider net of voters, pretending ignorance of White supremacists, like Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke.

That he could lead shows how frustrated Republican voters are by their sense of being abandoned and lied to by the Republican Party establishment regarding such key concerns as the economy, jobs, immigration, and foreign adventurism. Trump is as supported by Whites that feel abandoned by the Republican Party establishment as Democrats who feel abandoned by the Democratic Party establishment.

Regardless of who wins the nominations, old guard party establishments are now on life support, near political death, and open to “revolution” from their members. Question: How come only Republicans have a Black candidate running for president?

Trump, with a straight face, is claiming he is neither a politician nor a historian and therefore doesn’t know about David Duke and the Ku Klux Klan, as if he also doesn’t know about slavery, segregation, racial prejudice and discrimination, not to mention any of the references of Chris Rock at the Academy Awards Sunday night, February 28. In politics and history Trump is a true gamer.

So how do we judge this man who claims not to know history or foreign policy yet seeks to have his finger on the red button and have the phone for 3 am phone calls next to his bed? Is this an example of the scary people running in both parties who want to be the next president of the United States who wields their red pens, red phones, and red buttons?

It is hard to tell. Woodrow Wilson, Democrat, president from 1913-1921, a leader of the progressive movement, used his pen and phone to segregate Washington, D.C. for the first time in its history. It was the last big city segregated in America. He asked Congress to declare war in order to make “the world safe for democracy.” He also advocated a world body for peace, the “League of Nations.” Wilson was another gamer with politics and history.

Times have changed. Both parties are imploding, with Republicans seemingly doing it faster. Both sides are trying to empower the bigs (big business, big unions, big government) but not us littles, “we the people” in our neighborhoods.

In fact, it appears the Republican Party is about to implode and dust off the ghost of the Whig party that dissolved in 1844, and was replaced by the Republicans, with Lincoln its first sitting president. The resulting Democratic Party included Whig break-always who supported slavery and Indian removal policies. Is Donald Trump about to be the cause of Republicans changing their identity once again?

What can we trust about a man claiming to know so little? How can the bliss of his ignorance be blissful to those of us whose heritage includes crossing in slave murder ships, the horrors of Deep South segregation, Jim Crow, and the denial of our identity?

What does Donald Trump gain pretending ignorance about one of the most dangerous and tragic movements in American history, when Blacks were served up to White supremacy, slavery and segregation?

Donald Trump and the republican White right wing have pushed President Obama off the front page, as they continue their petty, mean-spirited and hateful campaign of 2016. We repeat again that Donald Trump is indeed a politician and a historian who indeed knows about White supremacy. Too much is at stake in the world for this to continue by either party.

Stay tuned.

For Ron’s hosted radio and TV show’s broadcast times, solutions papers, books and archives, go to www.TheMinneapolisStory.com.
To order his books, go to www.BeaconOnTheHillPress.com.

To date: 47 Solution Papers.

Written Monday, February 29, 2016
Published, MSR, Wednesday, March 9, 2016
Posted TMS, Wednesday, March 9, 2016, 11:57 p.m.


March, 02, 2016 #9: In the matter of Jamar Clark. Preparing for the Grand Juries

Through My Eyes, the Minneapolis Story Continues"
A weekly column by Ron Edwards
featured in the weekly Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder
and Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder News Online

March 2, 2016

         [The question is] “whether or not the wishes of these         
         [segregationist] states shall prevail or whether our
         Constitution shall prevail.”

                  ---Thurgood Marshall, summation  of Brown vs. Board of Education, December 8, 1953

 We support Thurgood Marshall and Martin Luther King, Jr’s approach of transparency, truthfulness, non-violence, civility, and the Golden Rule. 

As a minority, our credibility is our last line of defense in the remaining civil rights battles to close the gaps and beat the still existing obstacles regarding education, jobs, economic development, and housing.

When the Minneapolis NAACP and Black Lives Matter Minneapolis announced to the world they were not only there at the very moment of Jamar Clark’s death but had videos of it, we wondered.   

Grand Jury testimony will determine whether or not a trial is justified.  Will their story match that of the Hennepin County prosecutor, the State Attorney General and the FBI?

 The US Attorney, the Department of Justice and Minnesota’s Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) are continuing their investigations into the November 15, 2015 shooting death of Jamar Clark by police.  This raises the question:  how has the Minneapolis NAACP and BLM handled and protected the significant amount of evidence they claim to have in their possession as they proclaimed in their public statements.
 
Who had custodial control of their evidence?  Who had access to it during the two months of investigations by Minnesota’s BCA and the federal government?  Will their testimony result in Grand Jury determination of “justified” and no trial or “unjustified” and recommend a trial?

How well schooled in testifying for such appearances are NAACP and BLM witnesses?  Do they know what will be expected of them when they testify, especially if what they say is declared bearing false witness?

This case of Jamar Clark is very important.  Without the claimed evidence our community will not just be embarrassed. The credibility of the NAACP’s nearly 100 years of experience in cases before Grand Juries, whether federal, state or both, now and in the future, is at stake.  We agree with Thurgood Marshall:  fight within the law for “Justice for All,” and do so at "all deliberate speed," credibly and honestly.

Has the NAACP prepared its witnesses for how to testify about what they claimed to see on that November 15, 2015 morning?  Do they know what is expected when they raise their right hands and pledge they will tell the truth and nothing but the truth?
  
This is not about loose talk on a street corner, or bragging in a bar or expressing feelings in an intimate meeting of an organization.  We are talking about meeting the demands of due process under color of law, which can be a life changing experience.

Do they understand the protocols and the demands of a Grand Jury setting?  Are they prepared to be with strangers? Are thy ready to be without an attorney or counsel as they are asked questions by both the prosecutor and members of a grand Jury that will be mostly white citizens?

How will witnesses of the NAACP and BLM hold up psychologically in giving testimony, answering with facts and not feelings?  Their testimony will determine if a trial is in order.  The NAACP and MLM have a responsibility to emsure witnesses are prepared to engage well in an activity that is not an every day occurrence.  We saw this in St. Louis, when far too many citizens of Ferguson did not hold up well bearing testimony about the circumstances of Michael Brown’s death.

Jamar Clark deserves the best game plan NAACP and BLM can deliver.

For Ron’s hosted radio and TV show’s broadcast times, solutions papers, books and archives, go to www.TheMinneapolisStory.com.
To order his books, go to www.BeaconOnTheHillPress.com.

To date: 47 Solution Papers.

Written Monday, February 22, 2016
Published, MSR, Wednesday, March 2, 2016
Posted TMS, Wednesday, March 2, 2016, 7:10 p.m.


February, 24, 2016 #8: Loretta Lynch For U.S. Supreme Court. Its President Obama’s Call

Eyes, the Minneapolis Story Continues"
A weekly column by Ron Edwards
featured in the weekly Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder
and Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder News Online

February 24, 2016

There are those in the conservative wings of America’s political institutions that feel President Obama owes them a favor regarding nominating a successor to replace Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia.  I disagree.  Justice Scalia died suddenly, unexpectedly and mysteriously, Saturday, February 13, 2016, on a quail hunting vacation in West Texas, 15 miles from Mexico. 

 Through two national elections, 2008 and 2012, President Obama demonstrated earning America’s respect and trust, despite  those who are uncooperative with him and treat him with disrespect.  There is no reason to doubt his leadership despite the delays and those trying to obstruct his task of filling this sudden vacancy on the Supreme Court.

In terms of judgeships, the majority of Obama’s appointments are women and nonwhite males:  42% women (22% for W. Bush and 29% Clinton), and 36% minorities (18% W Bush, 24% Clinton), hence I understand the antagonism against the president because of race. 

I urge the President to nominate Attorney General Loretta Lynch to fill the new vacancy on the Supreme Court.  She is among the best in the country. I am a realist and understand American politics.  Nonetheless, he should not, as some urge, delay and create the longest vacancy of a Supreme Court position because they claim he is a lame duck.

He has not wavered in his strength of purpose nor wavered in supporting that purpose. He will continue to carry out his presidential and constitutional duties.   He will again make history with another first, this time regarding the Supreme Court of the United States.  We are all watching the political landscape change before our very eyes.  This nomination process will affect elections nation wide, from the office of the President to all offices of the House of Representatives to the 24 Republicans and 10 Democrats running for the Senate.   

Those demanding a delay reveal their shallow thinking and strategic error.  To continue their obstructive strategies, wrapped in the flag of American fairness and equality, will backfire with voters seeking an end to Capital obstructions.

Nominating Attorney General Lynch will honor the history of the painful struggles of Black women in the building of America and recognize the painful struggles felt by African Americans in general, as they continue to bear witness to the price they have paid to overcome.   Delay no longer:  it is time for an African American woman to be appointed and confirmed to the Supreme Court of the United States.

This is a “now” moment:  fill this position now and don’t leave it vacant. End the lining up on both sides to delay and obstruct.

Will America demonstrate its commitment to opportunity for all, or will America’s “leaders” offer up yet another unwarranted demonstration of the ugly side of the seemingly new standard for 21st century:  American politics of “the mean”?  Recognizing the dues paid in service to America by Black women, we clearly state:  we can wait no longer.

Some say the vacancy on the Supreme Court is reserved for conservatives in American politics, just as there are those who claim reservations for liberals.  We disagree.  That is unconstitutional.  The constitution calls for the President nominating qualified persons. The Senate then offers its advice and consent.  The Supreme Court is to serve the people by upholding the Constitution’s freedoms and rights for all, not the dogmas of any political party.

African Americans have earned the trust of this nation to serve in any position.  Attorney General Lynch is well qualified as one of the best for serving the best interests of our nation and its future.  She should be nominated.

Stay tuned.

For Ron’s hosted radio and TV show’s broadcast times, solutions papers, books and archives, go to www.TheMinneapolisStory.com.
To order his books, go to www.BeaconOnTheHillPress.com.

To date: 47 Solution Papers.

Written Monday, February15 , 2016
Published, MSR, Wednesday, February24, 2016
Posted TMS, Wednesday, February24, 2016, 2:10 a.m.


February, 17, 2016 #7: Your vote is not guaranteed in 2016. A lot of red flags and voter suppression

Through My Eyes, the Minneapolis Story Continues"
A weekly column by Ron Edwards
featured in the weekly Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder
and Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder News Online

February 17, 2016

The election 2016 is heating up.  Key issues for Election 2016:  voter suppression and immigration.

Our concern is those states that add additional unwarranted requirements suppressing blacks from voting but not whites, with some using the question of undocumented immigrants as a smoke screen to cause suppression of black votes, not to mention within-party voting as seen in reports from Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire’s precincts.

Presidential candidate Rubio was the first to be bold and honest enough to begin to peel the covers off of the political onion of immigration, exposing challenges to immigration.  We find that his findings mirror, in some cases, attempts to suppress black voting: 
        
(1) nullification and reversal leading to variable voter ID  requirements and other voting blocks,
         (2) old and new immigrants (often non-white),
        
(3) the question of which path: to citizenship or to deportation,        
        
(4) regarding old and new black voters.

Voting in America is both a legal right and personal privilege. In terms of immigration, key issues include identity differences and voting eligibility applied in some states to blacks as well.

Everyone assumes that on national election day in November (always the first Tuesday after the first Monday, so anywhere between the 2nd and the 8th), every citizen, regardless of color, will be able to exercise their right of voter participation.  Depending on which state one resides, this can be a dangerous assumption for people of color, especially in states once a stronghold for jim crow laws and the Ku Klux Klan (the Twin Cities were once a major center of Ku Klux Klan activity in America).

Presidential candidate Marco Rubio’s parents were immigrants to the U.S. from Cuba,  He understands.  He is attempting to smoothly change America to accept and enable old and new non-white immigrants, which in some places interferes with long-time non-white citizens’ voting.

Citizenship in our founding documents is not based on color or country of origin but on the principles of freedom through integration and assimilation (although many assumed white). Our concern is for those still turned away from the polls.

Remember:  the winner is the one with the most votes in the Electoral College, not general election votes. Thus, when the five or six most highly populated states are in any candidate’s column, they win.  Court appeals after elections regarding voter exclusion or suppression are difficult to adjudicate.

We haven’t forgotten Election 2000, when a troubling number of African American voters were turned away from the polls, as reported by analyses of voting data by federal and academic studies.  Data shows any number of voters of color, especially Hispanic, African American, and undocumented immigrants, experienced similar problems in being turned away from the voting booth, due to different criteria applied to identification, interaction with election judges, and other legal “issues” that can cause a voter to lose their voting rights, either at the November’s national elections or on the way to the polls.  

So we ask:  how many provisional ballots in Minnesota will never be counted, qualified ballots supposedly set aside in case there is a challenge to the vote?  Hey Minnesota:  What are the specific guarantees for provisional challenges to ballots of voters of color?

And what kind of voter education is going on which could have serious election consequences regarding eligibility for immigrants and people of color?  We know that small amounts of funds are set aide for voter education and protection in late summer or early fall.  We need to be ready to protect those in danger of losing their constitutionally protected right. to participate. 

We still need to be prepared.

Stay tuned

For Ron’s hosted radio and TV show’s broadcast times, solutions papers, books and archives, go to www.TheMinneapolisStory.com.
To order his books, go to www.BeaconOnTheHillPress.com.

To date: 47 Solution Papers.

Written Monday,February 8, 2016
Published, MSR, Wednesday, February 17, 2016
Posted TMS, Thursday, February 18, 2016, 11:31 p.m.


February, 10, 2016 #6: The importance of respect and dignity during a crises. A community divided.

Through My Eyes, the Minneapolis Story Continues"
A weekly column by Ron Edwards
featured in the weekly Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder
and Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder News Online

February 10, 2016

Pull quote: It is disrespecting for civil rights organizations to refer to Black ministers as worthless as poverty pimps, and to declare reconciliation is not the action and order of the day

February 1, 2016, is another day that will live in infamy for our Minneapolis community, due to the disgraceful and disrespectful confrontational name-calling witnessed by both Black and White Minneapolis leaders at an event in South Minneapolis. The Black leader of the local branch of one of our most respected civil rights organizations referred to two other Black leaders using a name suggesting they are offspring of a mother who is like a dog in active heat.

We need healing, not hurting. We need “quality of character” not nasty characters. We need respect, not displays of pettiness, rancor, and disrespect.

In presidential years, wanna-be leaders, nationally and locally, fight among themselves over who is “the greatest.” It is not them. It is the “people in community” who are the greatest. So attacking loved ones of those with whom one disagrees is a sure way to lose community support. Traveling the high road of respect and dignity helps create a formula for community conflict resolution and peace.

Too many block peace by blocking community conflict resolution, proudly holding self over community, saying they are summoned by a greater power that only they can identify, attacking traditional Black churches, claiming they alone speak truth and wisdom. Too many say, quite literally, that community elders should just go away and die, instead of calling for a “family meeting,” with all at the table to discuss common goals and how to meet them, especially in the too-often ignored areas of education, jobs and housing.

It is disrespecting for civil rights organizations to refer to Black ministers as worthless as poverty pimps, and to declare reconciliation is not the action and order of the day.

As we pointed out in our 2015 year-end column, reconciliation is always the action and order of the day.

The name calling uttered loudly on February 1, so mean, so full of venom and disrespect, reflects not “civil rights” for all but “my rights” for me. In my younger days of the 1960s and 1970s, such disrespect would have been unacceptable; such a leader would receive calls from both membership and broader community leaders to resign.

Why do such perpetrators and their supporters believe apologies will be enough while the rest us realize they are sorry only for being caught. Why express anger to someone by calling their 79-year-old mother, and minister, a dog in active heat? What deeper, underlying attitudes are being masked?

For other examples of disrespect, see our December 24, 2015 column about African American fire fighters and police officers at the BLM-NAACP occupations, and then see our our November 26, 2014 column for examples of other Black-on-Black disrespect. These are not good patterns and practices.

Most “dissed” have family, friends, and admirers. Most religions and secular ideologies claim a version of the “Golden Rule,” advocating treating others the way one wants to be treated. Not doing so betrays one’s religion and/or secular ideology, and leads both sides to becoming what they hate. There is no “civil right” to bully those not agreed with. Such behavior is self-defeating.

We are a better people. We purposefully have reasonable great expectations. Leaders must focus on keeping our collective eye on the prize. Community leaders, teachers, scholars at local colleges and think tanks, elected officials, and agency administrators work best with those who respect rather than disrespect.

All moments demand leadership with civility and character. Will the legacy of the Minneapolis NAACP and Black Lives Matter/Minneapolis be one of success through respect for what matters to all or fail through showing disrespect, and focusing only on matters that matter to them?

Stay tuned.

For Ron’s hosted radio and TV show’s broadcast times, solutions papers, books and archives, go to www.TheMinneapolisStory.com.
To order his books, go to www.BeaconOnTheHillPress.com.

To date: 47 Solution Papers.

Written Monday,February 1, 2016
Published, MSR, Wednesday, February 10, 2016
Posted TMS, Wednesday, February 10, 2016,8:44 p.m.


February, 03, 2016 #5: Goar is out. What next?

Through My Eyes, the Minneapolis Story Continues"
A weekly column by Ron Edwards
featured in the weekly Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder
and Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder News Online

February 3, 2016

Pull quote: Weak boards give in to unwarranted pressure groups:

       “Without education, no jobs, no housing, no prosperity.”
       “…the need to read and write and be trained.”
                     — Nellie Stone Johnson, African American co-founder,
                         with white Hubert Hymphrey of the DFL (Democrat
                         Farmer Labor Party), both for non-violence

When it was announced that interim Superintendent Michael Goar withdrew his name for consideration for permanent superintendent of the Minneapolis Public Schools (MPS), it exposed two weaknesses of the MPS and its adults in whose hands and care we have placed the children:

       1. Not taking action to repell "pirates" trying to scuttle their ship,
           due to fear of being accused of being politically incorrect.
       2. Letting “pirates” take over their ship of education and
sink their
           meeting.

All kinds of questions are now fair game. Our children’s future is at stake.

When MPS board rejected Sergio Páez as superintendent two weeks ago, and were then going to consider interim Superintendent Michael Goar, the Minneapolis Branch of the NAACP and Black Lives Matter conducted a disruptive demonstration, causing the meeting to end. They later went public in their declaration that they stopped the vote for Michael Goar.

Weak boards give in to unwarranted pressure by groups. Goar obviously decided to act to end the charade that is the search for superintendent by withdrawing his name. The third candidate is an African American from Houston, Texas.

The Board should not have allowed themselves to be intimidated. They should have recessed, cleared the room, reassembled, reconvened, and taken their vote. There is also an uneasy feeling that a political decision has been made that an African American shall not become superintendent of schools in a school district in which 65 percent are students of color, with half of the students African American. The Board seems unclear regarding diversity in the next selection round.

The question, as of the writing of this column, is why the gentleman from Houston was not offered the opportunity to be superintendent. And, despite the story in the Star Tribune about the NAACP president stating she sent a letter to the MPS board calling for Michael Goar not to be considered for superintendent, I have not been able to find any member of the NAACP branch who participated in such a vote to authorize sending that letter to the Minneapolis Board of Education. If there is none, that means one person is holding up the progress of the district. That demonstrates that once again it appears that the rules and constitution that govern the long-standing organization were dismissed as insignificant.

I would hope no one takes great satisfaction in having aided and abetted the continued chaos and delay of the implementation needed to guarantee quality education for the students of this district. We said in an earlier column that the adults should place significant demands on the importance of excellent education for the students, to demonstrate that adults know how to get the job done.

Instead, the adults are showing to those in power that despite the responsibility for education, others and their notion of political correctness rule the day, demonstrating they don’t have a clue regarding how to solve this disaster. That is unacceptable.

At the legislative session starting on March 8, 2016, the Minneapolis School District should seriously be considered as a candidate to be placed in administrative receivership by the state of Minnesota.

The Republican majority in both houses of the legislature have to be licking their chops like barracuda in the water for this golden opportunity to embarrass a DFL strong hold, the city of Minneapolis and its school district, who just cannot seem to get it right. Our children and our citizen deserve better.

Stay tuned.

For Ron’s hosted radio and TV show’s broadcast times, solutions papers, books, and archives, go to www.TheMinneapolisStory.com. To order his books, go to www.BeaconOnTheHillPress.com.

For Ron’s hosted radio and TV show’s broadcast times, solutions papers, books and archives, go to www.TheMinneapolisStory.com.
To order his books, go to www.BeaconOnTheHillPress.com.

To date: 47 Solution Papers.

Written Monday, January 25, 2015
Published, MSR, Wednesday, February 3, 2016
Posted TMS, Saturday, February 6, 201 , 3:42 a.m.


January, 27, 2016 #4: Jamar Clark Investigation Compromised. Investigator sabotages Integrity of Witness. 

Through My Eyes, the Minneapolis Story Continues"
A weekly column by Ron Edwards
featured in the weekly Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder
and Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder News Online

January 27, 2016

Pull quote: Tampering with the investigation will make it difficult to provide the affirmative findings sought by Jamar Clark’s supporters.

       “I heard law books were to dig in, so I dug, way deep.”
                     — Thurgood Marshall (explaining his success)

       “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.”
                     — Martin Luther King Jr.

Expectations were high that the investigation into the circumstances of Jamar Clark’s shooting death on November 15, 2015, would be handled with integrity and honesty. Many words have been written, many reflections have been made, but the integrity of the investigation has been compromised and ruptured.

I knew the investigation was falling apart when we learned two weeks ago that an attempt was carried out to destroy the character of a key witness to the shooting of Jamar Clark. The violations within the investigative process included misrepresentation of a key witness to this tragedy that has gripped our state and nation.

A member of the judiciary of the State of Minnesota was sought out to help conspire to destroy the integrity of one of the witnesses and his information in order to derail the investigation.  He refused.

This raises serious questions in regard to the integrity of the investigation. Investigative agencies will have to look seriously at a legal breach of investigative integrity.  This column stands totally and absolutely behind this serious allegation. This is not hearsay, as I was there when the witness talked to the investigators. Tampering with the investigation will make it difficult to provide the affirmative findings sought by Jamar Clark’s supporters.

Some White Americans feel that when a victim is an African American, liberties can be taken with the doctrines of due process, fairness and the integrity of an investigation in order to initiate a conspiracy against the African American. Unknown to these conspirators, the reputation of and information supplied by this key witness has been verified and thus supported by information received after the witness gave his statement to the investigators.

Thus it became quite clear that at least one of the investigators taking the statement of the witness was already hostile to that witness. That became an even greater concern when it was learned that the investigators never provided the witness with a copy of his statement/testimony, as required by law. They obviously went to great lengths to impugn the character of this witness and to discuss information and testimony relevant to the circumstances surrounding the death of Jamar Clark on a street in North Minneapolis.

We are faced with being at the mercy of others’ choices of behavior that support credibility or that wrecks credibilty. This goes for any side of those engaged in any discussion.

Those who speak up with integrity about issues that matter in their patterns and practices, help our cause. Those who feel not speaking with integrity in order to secure a specific short term “end” for “the greater good,” do our shared civil rights cause long-term harm.  It is a credibility killer, as those doing it cause the questions to be raised of how many other investigations and witnesses have been tarnished.

How many others are exercising false testimony for the “greater good” that comes back to cause greater harm, whether such patterns and practices are done by Whites or Blacks?

              “We must dissent from a government that has left its young without jobs, education or hope. We must dissent from the poverty of vision and the absence of moral leadership. We  must dissent because America can do better, because America has no choice but to do better.”
                                         — Thurgood Marshall

              "Nonviolence is the sword that heals.”
                                          — Martin Luther King, Jr.

Stay tuned.

or Ron’s hosted radio and TV show’s broadcast times, solutions papers, books and archives, go to www.TheMinneapolisStory.com.
To order his books, go to www.BeaconOnTheHillPress.com.

To date: 47 Solution Papers.

Written Monday, January 18, 2015
Published, MSR, Wednesday, January 27, 2015
Posted TMS, Wednesday, January 27 , 2015, 5:32 a.m.


In the matter of Jamar Clark
Preparing for the Grand Juries

Through My Eyes, the Minneapolis Story Continues"
A weekly column by Ron Edwards
featured in the weekly Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder
and Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder News Online

March 2, 2016

         [The question is] “whether or not the wishes of these         
         [segregationist] states shall prevail or whether our
         Constitution shall prevail.”

                  ---Thurgood Marshall, summation  of Brown vs. Board of Education, December 8, 1953

 We support Thurgood Marshall and Martin Luther King, Jr’s approach of transparency, truthfulness, non-violence, civility, and the Golden Rule. 

As a minority, our credibility is our last line of defense in the remaining civil rights battles to close the gaps and beat the still existing obstacles regarding education, jobs, economic development, and housing.

When the Minneapolis NAACP and Black Lives Matter Minneapolis announced to the world they were not only there at the very moment of Jamar Clark’s death but had videos of it, we wondered.   

Grand Jury testimony will determine whether or not a trial is justified.  Will their story match that of the Hennepin County prosecutor, the State Attorney General and the FBI?

 The US Attorney, the Department of Justice and Minnesota’s Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) are continuing their investigations into the November 15, 2015 shooting death of Jamar Clark by police.  This raises the question:  how has the Minneapolis NAACP and BLM handled and protected the significant amount of evidence they claim to have in their possession as they proclaimed in their public statements.
 
Who had custodial control of their evidence?  Who had access to it during the two months of investigations by Minnesota’s BCA and the federal government?  Will their testimony result in Grand Jury determination of “justified” and no trial or “unjustified” and recommend a trial?

How well schooled in testifying for such appearances are NAACP and BLM witnesses?  Do they know what will be expected of them when they testify, especially if what they say is declared bearing false witness?

This case of Jamar Clark is very important.  Without the claimed evidence our community will not just be embarrassed. The credibility of the NAACP’s nearly 100 years of experience in cases before Grand Juries, whether federal, state or both, now and in the future, is at stake.  We agree with Thurgood Marshall:  fight within the law for “Justice for All,” and do so at "all deliberate speed," credibly and honestly.

Has the NAACP prepared its witnesses for how to testify about what they claimed to see on that November 15, 2015 morning?  Do they know what is expected when they raise their right hands and pledge they will tell the truth and nothing but the truth?
  
This is not about loose talk on a street corner, or bragging in a bar or expressing feelings in an intimate meeting of an organization.  We are talking about meeting the demands of due process under color of law, which can be a life changing experience.

Do they understand the protocols and the demands of a Grand Jury setting?  Are they prepared to be with strangers? Are thy ready to be without an attorney or counsel as they are asked questions by both the prosecutor and members of a grand Jury that will be mostly white citizens?

How will witnesses of the NAACP and BLM hold up psychologically in giving testimony, answering with facts and not feelings?  Their testimony will determine if a trial is in order.  The NAACP and MLM have a responsibility to emsure witnesses are prepared to engage well in an activity that is not an every day occurrence.  We saw this in St. Louis, when far too many citizens of Ferguson did not hold up well bearing testimony about the circumstances of Michael Brown’s death.

Jamar Clark deserves the best game plan NAACP and BLM can deliver.

For Ron’s hosted radio and TV show’s broadcast times, solutions papers, books and archives, go to www.TheMinneapolisStory.com.
To order his books, go to www.BeaconOnTheHillPress.com.

To date: 47 Solution Papers.

Written Monday, February 22, 2016
Published, MSR, Wednesday, March 2, 2016
Posted TMS, Wednesday, March 2, 2016, 7:10 p.m.


January, 20, 2016 #3: The NFL’s Race Quota:  Nothing has Changed

Through My Eyes, the Minneapolis Story Continues"
A weekly column by Ron Edwards
featured in the weekly Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder
and Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder News Online

January 20, 2016

As I stated in my January 8, 2014 column, “The Rooney Rule is dead:”

This is not about Affirmative Action; this is about affirmative discrimination. With 65 percent of players being African American and most coaches being former players, statistically, all things being equal, to get the best of the best you would have at least 20 Black head coaches.” 

Statistically the NFL numbers reflect discrimination. The real number that counts is how few entry-level Black coaches are hired who can then compete for moving up. Closing the beginning of the coaching pipeline guarantees fewer qualified for the coordinator to head co ach move.

The spiteful myth continues:  “Blacks can play and entertain us, but they are not smart enough to provide leadership and inspiration,”  just as they used to say why they didn’t put Blacks at Quarterback. The well intended “Rooney Rule” (named after the late owner of the NFL Pittsburgh Steelers) of the National Football League (“wherever there is a head coaching or general manager vacancy, at least one of those interviewed must be an African American”) provides the “truth” of saying “we tried” that in turn provides cover for the lie that Black candidates are not hired because they “proved” in the interviews they were not good enough. 

The Rooney Rule was inspired by the 2002 firings of Tampa Bay Buccaneers Head Coach Tony Dungy and Minnesota Vikings Head Coach Dennis Green.  A subsequent study showed that “black head coaches, despite winning a higher percentage of games, were less likely to be hired and more likely to be fired than their white counterparts.”

When Pittsburgh and Cincinnati played January 9, 2016, half of the four current NFL Black coaches were facing off against each other:  Pittsburgh’s Mike Tomlin vs. Cincinnati’s Marvin Lewis.  The other two NFL Black Head Coaches, not in the playaoffs, are the Detroit Lions’ Jim Caldwell and the New York Jets’ Todd Bowles.

Since then, Hugh Jackson, former African American Head Coach of the NFL Raiders has been hired as Head Coach of the Cleveland Browns. That makes 5 Black Head Coaches.  We’ll see if that number rises or falls after all the vacancies are filled.

And yet across the many news outlets and sports networks, there have been few if any discussions about the shrinking number of Black Head Coaches in the NFL, most of whom are former players in a league that is at least 65% African American.

The Rooney Rule is an insult to African Americans.  The NFL’s Gentlemen’s Agreement to retool and recycle white coaches combined with purposely hiring few blacks to be either Offensive or Defensive Coordinators, the  major candidate pool for new Head Coaches, purposefully reduces Africa Americans a fair opportunity to be a head coach.  Similar obstacles  have so far purposefully stalled Black ownership.

The White Gentlemen’s Rooney Rule Club views African Americans as field hand jokes, not House Managers, which makes  the NFL home to the most lucrative plantations in the country, condescendingly telling African Americans they should be appreciative that they are paid so well to work in the NFL plantations. 

Major League Baseball hires light skinned Latin players, while the NBA hires Europeans to play.  But it is the NFL, the most lucrative of all of the plantations that is so openly disrespectful of African American players.

I recall discussions in the 1950s regarding breaking color barriers that were subtly reimposed later.  Unless the Rooney Rule becomes more than a Public Relations ploy, we are on course to return to when there were no African American NFL Head Ccaches. 

Well paid, black players wanting to stay in football, especially as coaches, too often stifle their tenaciousness and their consciences and remain quiet about this discrimination.  As often happens, potential leaders for ending this discrimination are pressured to not do so, comforting themselves with “at least they got theirs.”

Stay tuned

For Ron’s hosted radio and TV show’s broadcast times, solutions papers, books and archives, go to www.TheMinneapolisStory.com.
To order his books, go to www.BeaconOnTheHillPress.com.

To date: 47 Solution Papers.

Written Monday, January11, 2015
Published, MSR, Wednesday, January 20, 2015
Posted TMS, Wednesday, January 20, 2015, 3:33 a.m.


January, 13, 2016 #2: Terrorists in Oregon: yes or no?

Through My Eyes, the Minneapolis Story Continues"
A weekly column by Ron Edwards
featured in the weekly Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder
and Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder News Online

January 13, 2016

Pull quote: Hypocrisy regarding justice and fairness in Black inner cities has now leapt to communities, large and small, run by Whites.

       “It has seemed that true democracy has been lost, that we have become a nation whose people have been forgotten amidst the vast institutions of power that govern our lives.”
                     — Senator Mark O. Hatfield, July 28, 1975,
                     Congressional Record, Senate: pages 25387

       Since when do we have to back our president…..when the president is proposing an unconstitutional act?
                     — Senator Wayne Morse regarding the
                         Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, 1964

Headlines from around the country reveal the double standards and inconsistencies in news coverage reports of those who engage in “occupations,” protests and protest movements, such as in the “occupations” of Minneapolis and the Mall of America and the current one in a small federal building in Burns, Oregon (population 2,806, the largest town of Harney County, Oregon’s largest county by size):

The protest in Oregon is part of a decades-old debate regarding ownership and management of U.S. public lands by locals versus Washington, D.C. The same as in America’s inner cities. White journalism in White towns tries to stay away from the issue and the label of “terrorism.” Before 1680 when the French arrived, the Dakota Sioux were the region's sole residents. Today, not a word about or from the Sioux Indians, the first occupiers.

We see different standards at work in America today for reporting movements by Whites and those by people of color. Can you imaging the discussion if the Burns occupation were about Red Americans, Black Americans or Brown-skinned brothers of the Middle East and Latin America?

White ranchers see the judge’s judicial bypass of prosecutors to add additional sentencing to already freed White ranchers as an unconstitutional act, putting the ranchers in double jeopardy. The federal government wants the land of the ranchers (it already owns 53 percent of Oregon, with the feds owning 75 percent of Harney County). The locals say the government is leaving millions of trees to rot rather than allow logging and the jobs of economic development.

Hypocrisy regarding justice and fairness in Black inner cities has now leapt to communities, large and small, run by Whites. If 25-35 gun toting Blacks had come over from Portland or up from Los Angeles and disrupted the routines of Burns, everyone from Donald Trump to White militia groups across America would have called for federal military intervention.

This little town of Burns, Oregon, at the junction of State Highway 20 and Federal Interstate 395, is located in as White an area of America as can be. As many in inner cities, they too are raising constitutional questions about the rights of U.S. citizens. The citizens of Burns, Oregon don’t want outside Whites to get in the way of their own protests.

This seizure in Burns, Oregon is by White militia who have challenged the power and authority of the American government before. In fact, Mr. Bundy, the leading outsider, from Nevada, was involved with a standoff with the federal government in 2014 at his ranch in Nevada, carrying out what he called their constitutional right of self-protection. How far would a Black guy from Portland or Los Angeles get using Burns protesters’ arguments to justify the violation and disruption of any beautiful little White town?

Stay tuned.

For Ron’s hosted radio and TV show’s broadcast times, solutions papers, books and archives, go to www.TheMinneapolisStory.com.
To order his books, go to www.BeaconOnTheHillPress.com.

To date: 47 Solution Papers.

Written Monday, January 4, 2016
Published, MSR, Wednesday, January 13, 2016
Posted TMS, Wednesday, January 13, 2016, 3:33 a.m.


January, 06, 2016 #1: Sergio Paez is not a good fit for MPS. Disastrous MPS leadership process led to his selection

Through My Eyes, the Minneapolis Story Continues"
A weekly column by Ron Edwards
featured in the weekly Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder
and Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder News Online

January 6, 2016

The December 7, 2015 announcement by the Minneapolis Public School (MPS) Board of their intention to hire Sergio Paez as superintendent of MPS is now more and more recognized as a bad decision, making it one of those days that will live in Minneapolis Education Infamy (not to be confused with December 7, 1941, the attack on Pearl Harbor. The good news today:  unlike Pearl Harbor, the potential damage of December 7, 2015 can be avoided).

The Star Tribune reported that the district attorney in Massachusetts launched a criminal investigation into situations on Sergio Paez’ watch. And yet he told the board there are “no issues here to discuss.” 

The Star Tribune also reported how Paez was clearly unprepared and unseasoned when he became superintendent of the Holyoke School District in June of 2013, a school district about the size of our Robbinsdale, MN, and he clearly has not progressed to qualify for Minneapolis. The district decreased in scores and was put into receivership on his watch. 

The Star Tribune and others, including many parents, see that Paez is not the man to lead the MPS. The board needs to work on this until they get it right. 

Will the MPS Board now understand what this newspaper meant in its editorial two weeks ago by its call for “new leadership” in various Minneapolis communities and institutions? Who will explain the empirical reality that the Civil Rights Movement in Minneapolis has far too long, as this paper pointed out, delivered only “empty diversity talk and growing achievement gaps,” along with rhetoric and meetings on one side and rhetoric and demonstrations on the other?

Who will lead the way to seek equality of opportunity and fairness in developing true diversity and significant and steady closing of achievement gaps?  Who will explain to the MPS Board that the investigation regarding flawed superintendent candidates seems to have been done with malfeasance and fraud in their contractual relationships with the MPS Board. What will the board do to fix this flaw in its search and leadership process?
 
Who will tell the Minneapolis School District‘s mix of both experienced incumbents and those newly arrived that they must deliver common sense and disciplined and empirical examination of the facts for the classroom and for maximum and meaningful examination of individuals to be considered to be leaders to guide the education and in evaluation of the learning of the children of the district?

The Civil Rights Movement today (especially the NAACP and BLM versions) have forgotten the heart of what brought civil rights success: L&Ls (nonviolent Litigation and Legislation), not through M&Ms (continuous meetings and marches devoid of the L&L twins and their formula for peace and progress for any issue). The movement must gather data, marshal arguments, develop briefs and go to court to advance. 

Needed is new leadership, Black and White, to lead down this L&L path. Marches and demonstrations should be partnered with briefs presented in court. Why aren’t attorneys involved in the movement today doing so?

Nellie Stone Johnson’s mantra holds true:  “no education, no jobs, no housing.” Education is not a color nor a culture. It is the foundation for integration’s progress to jobs and housing. It also provides us with opportunity for liberty as citizens with civil rights for all, as we are the only nation in the world to define itself by laws and not by blood or land or color or gender. This is why the only successful formula for integrated civil rights has been not race, not ideology, but L&L:  Litigation and Legislation.  Little is achieved by endless M&Ms — meetings and marches — unless briefs in court accompany them.

We owe it to the children.

Stay tuned.

For Ron’s hosted radio and TV show’s broadcast times, solutions papers, books and archives, go to www.TheMinneapolisStory.com.
To order his books, go to www.BeaconOnTheHillPress.com.

To date: 47 Solution Papers.

Written Monday, Decemer 28, 2015
Published, MSR, Wednesday, January 6, 2015
Posted TMS, Wednesday, January 13 , 2015, 6:18 a.m.


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.

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