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A Beacon for Freedom in the City

2006 Blog Entries
August ~ Entries #19 - 29

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8-30-06, #29: City accepts discrimination against Blacks as OK, but not against gays and lesbians.

The Star Tribune on Tuesday (posted on their web page Monday night), published a story with the heading/subheading, Use of police psychologist put on hold for inquiry. A Minneapolis community relations group has questioned Michael A. Campion's affiliation with an anti-gay organization.

The Star Tribune story describes how we on the PCRC (Police Community Relations Council) uncovered official racism and bias against those who are not considered "their kind" by the DFL officials of the city.

It seems the "jewel" the City of Minneapolis officials thought they had in their employ, psychologist Dr. Michael A. Campion, turns out to be a coin with two sides. The DFL officials like his side that is a 24 carat racist weeding out undesirables people of color applying for city jobs. What they all of sudden discovered is that the other side of this coin is made of costume jewelry, as he also weeds out such "undesirables" as gays and lesbians.

On July 11 th , I formally asked the Civil Service Commssion to review Dr. Campion's work as he wasn't under contract. Mayor RT Rybak blocked the review (after all, the complaint was about Blacks; the mayor didn't know Campion also weeded out gays and lesbians).

We pointed this out at the PCRC meeting of June 27 th , attended by City Council President Barb Johnson, that Campion was not only weeding out Black applicants, but that he was doing so without a contract, yet another non-compliance violation of city rules by the city. She and those with her didn't mind, even though it means that the City of Minneapolis has given his company, Campion, Barrow & Associates (of Arden Hills, MN and Champaign Urbana, IL) hundreds of thousands of dollars, violating its own rules to do so.

So now, Monday of this week, Campion's service are stopped. Why now when we pointed out the problems earlier? Because then the city's little jewel of official discrimination only bumped applicants of color. Now he has lost luster in the City's eyes when Mayor Rybak, the City Coordinator Steven Bosacker, and Council members such as City Council President Barb Johnson and City Council members Scott Benson, Robert Lillegrin, Gary Shiff, Betsy Hodges, etc., who didn't mind Campion's racism weeding out people of color did get upset to find out that he was also weeding out gays and lesbians as undesirables, which is not OK with them.

When people of color complained, he was investigated, but passed with flying colors. But what would you expect, when (1) the city is led by a mayor who has already said he isn't interested in the Black community, as we have reported before, and (2) the group evaluating Campion includes his son, which is in direct violation of the city's nepotism rule, meaning we have yet one more area in which the city is in non-compliance with its own rules.

Since last February, we on the PCRC have been asking to be allowed to meet and question this psychologist, Dr. Campion. When he finally met with him last week, we asked him about his work that weeded out people of color. We also asked about the tests used. The Justice Department has determined that instruments must meed the Federal AIR standard, the Adverse Impact Ratio, known as Section 1607.14. When I asked him about that at our meeting we was visably angry at being asked. The federal standard is that it cannot be greater than 80%. He refused to answer the question.

We also asked him why so many Somali's were weeded out through his testing instruments.

When we checked his web site (at www.campionbarrow.com) Tuesday, August 22nd , we found the links worked. When we checked his links a week later, on August 29 th , we discovered a number of link no longer open. Unless it is a server problem, it would appear there are things they no longer want read.

What we would like to know now is the role of Campion and his company in what we must call the City's corrupt manner in dealing with parking ramps. Recall in our column #25 of December 14, 2005, Black opportunity crushed by council ramp vote: Keeping us in our place is the City's priority, when we reported the hand the city played in first enabling a combination of African Americans and Somalis to purchase a ramp management company to mange the ramp contracts of the city. Nine months later this minority group was found all of a sudden to be unacceptable and the contract was not renewed, and the group losts its investment, the jobs, and was thus preveting from haviang the money to invest again. And now the city is preparing to sell six more parking ramps to private developers. We want to know what was opened to minority buyers, and what process was used to keep any from buying, or to intimidate any from trying.
Posted 8-30-06, 11:57 a.m.


8-5-06, #28: Profiling Gang members is OK. Racefiling youth in polo shirts is not.

The Star Tribune, the Mayor, the Police, and assorted white citizens are having a hissey fit over the mayor and police being heckled, Thursday, 8-10-06 (Editorial: Public safety is a civil right. Mayor, police deserve support against North Side gangsters), when the Mayor and Police Chief "braved" to come to North Minneapolis to let us know the Black community was going to be saved from the snakes of Black gang members by White Moseses carrying their staffs in the shape of night sticks and billy clubs. Mercy. O Lawd, let my people go.

The Strib had its two articles up that Thursday night ( Crowd angered at police strategy for gang problem on North Side and Police will target 3 gangs on north side ), and we submitted our column the next morning that appears today: City out of control: City endorses racial profiling plan.

Now this is not supposed to be funny, but you have to admit, the image presented by one of the letters to the editor yesterday, 8-15-06 ( Letter of the day: If the profile fits, let crime-fighters use it), even though he accepts profiling, covers the situation perfectly in two lines, one about the Mayor and the other about our so-called Black and white leaders abdicating their responsibilities such that the letter writer essentially asks for a police state, at least in North Minneapolis. Re Mayor RT Rybak: "to see him flee, head down, to his car was a new low." And about the so-called leaders and the letter writer's police state solution: "And since the mayor won't lead and the activists can't lead, for the sake of Minneapolis, it's time that the police do."

And the Strib has hit a new low as well, hijacking, as so many do today, the term "civil right," in order to keep Blacks in their place and preferencing others ahead of us. The Strib admits that "yes ... that some cops have behaved like an occupation force" (which they have no problem with in Minneapolis but do have in Baghdad), and the Strib admits that the police haven't always acted "respectfully."
The only thing the Strib gets right about the people of North Minneapolis is this: " they want the shootings, muggings and drug-dealing to stop." Amern. The police admit they know who the young gang members are. They even know how many: 120. And they say they have them in a 3 ring notebook. But the only tool they can think of is send in the troops (40 cops) and then cut and run (leave after a month).

What the Strib doesn't reference is the gang activity in the suburbs: robberies, beatings, drugs, etc. But no whites killed. The problem with North Minneapolis is that a couple of whites have been killed (the Strib barely cares, beyond keep track of the statistics, when Blacks kill Blacks).

And after unmercifully attacking the Bush administration for its "you're either for us or against us," statement, the Strib applies it to the Blacks of Minneapolis: It's time to choose sides . And it gets worse. The Strib says the hecklers and activists "might as well be on the side of the criminals." Whoa. That is James Bond 007 "license to kill" activists talk. Well, good friends, our good Mayor, at a 4 th Precinct Roll Call he recently attended, after the heckling he ran from with his tiny tail between his legs, he told his blue profilers at the roll call that they had carte blance to do whatever they wanted to do to keep order. THAT's why our column today talks about the constitution.

To the Strib, fear is a civil rights violation. And the Strib, carrying the water for a cowardly city, blames the victims. In an incredible act of denial, the Strib says if the gangs were not there, "the vast majority of children in north Minneapolis would have a far better chance at success." So why wasn't there success before the gangs were in North Philadelphia? It is like saying there would be no terrorists if we were not in Iraq, but we were not there before 9/11.
And of course there are community activists that are upset. Keeping "control" used to be part of their bread and butter. After all the service they did for the mastuh, they've been cut out and now only the white race hustler get a piece of the pie.

And the biggest whopper of all: " Rybak is not to blame for these crimes. Nor are the police." Ryback is part of the DFL machines that controls the city.

What will get the kids of North Minneapois a chance of success is a good education, which the DFL controlled public education system won't provide them, THE civil rights violation of Blacks by the DFL.

What will get the kids of North Minneapolis a chance of success is to give their fathers and big brothers jobs, especially in construction, which the city refuses to do despite the mandate compliances for doing so. That is another civil rights violation against the Black community.

What will get the kids of North Minneapois a chance of success is equal access and equal opportunity, which the city consistently refuses to do as we detail in our book in our chapters on education, jobs, housing, the courts, corrupt DFL led government, gerrymandering blacks out of contention, and buying off Black organizatioins that now are pitiful shadows of their former selves. Read the details for this and more in our book that details the consistent denial of civil rights to Blacks.

What will get the kids of North Minneapois a chance of success is for the police to sit down and talk with the community. And what better vehicle than the PCRC (Police Community Relations Council), established by the Justice Department just for the purpose. Instead, Mayor Rybak sounds like President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (Iran's President), on "60 Minutes" sunday night, where he advocated "let's talk" but sends in the troops. Rybak was there when the PCRC was formed. He ignores it. It is a tool he won't use. Sunday, on 60 Minutes, Ahmadinejad told Mike Wallace, "The time of the bomb is in the past. It's behind us. Today is the era of thoughts, dialogue and cultural exchanges." Just like Rybak: talk about talking and then send in the police.

It is interesting how the term "civil right" is adopted as a self stamping stamp of approval, which is more and more becoming the bumper sticker of civil rights violating scoundrels.

So Mr. Mayor, it is quite simple. Open up that 3 ring notebook with the names of the 120 gang members and go get them. Sending in 40 cops for a month to shoot at youth for such crimes as they "walk by while being Black." This is not like airport security, where looking twice at every Arab looking person makes sense as all of the terrorists have been Middle Eastern. And we don't have their addresses. Not so in North Minneapolis. The Strip would have us believe that any kid wearing "oversized khaki shorts and polo shirts" is a gang member. They must not get out much, certainly not on the University of Minnesota campus nor at the Mall of America.

We don't need 40 cops doing walk bys for 30 days. We need 40 cops to knock on the doors of the addresses in the 3 ring notebook. Maybe that's the fear the Strib is really talking about. They fear the door to door action. Doesn't matter. Don't profile by clothing that all are wearing. Profile by the addresses in your 3 ring notebook.
Posted 8-16-06, 1:47 a.m.


Nine blog entries for today, 8-5-06 for your consideration, as the gaps get wider, #s 19 - 28:
8-5-06, #27 We welcome official Minneapolis and all DemocRATs (see # 21 below) seeking a "gotcha", as we continue to speak strong truth to weak leaders.
8-5-06, #26: We applaud hearing of the apologies of some Black ministers and urge "Ubuntu" reconciliation in our communities of color
8-5-06, #25. Black ministers, no longer prophetic, set relations back with Asian Community to curry favor with Police Plantation.
8-5-06, #24. Community TV becomes censored Police TV, setting back police community relations, as police assassinate truth once more.
8-5-06, #23. DemocRAT racism, joining Jesse's Hymietown with Lieberman in Black Face.
8-5-06, #22. Blacks are losing their prophetic voice with their plantationism
8-5-06, #21. The New Yorker prefers "democratic" and hates democRAT. We like it.
8-5-06, # 20. Our blogging: still a lonely beacon in this town. The Strib still fears the new journalism and our brand of it.
8-5-06, # 19. Now Big Mother joins Big Brother watching. We prefer Big Brother, especially Big Brother MinneAPPLEless.
Posted 8-5-06, 5:55 p.m.


8-5-06, #27 We welcome official Minneapolis and all DemocRATs (see # 21 below) seeking a "gotcha", as we continue to speak strong truth to weak leaders.

Due to community incidents we report on below in #s 24, 25, 26, it has come to our attention that officials of our fair city are now, more than beforechecking out our web site for our reporting, especially on the shooting deatlh of Fong Lee (see our Blog entries #17 and #18 below, and our Column of August 2, 2006). We welcome one and all. You'll learn that by reading what is on this web site you'll obtain "roadmaps" to the answers to the problems you address. We interpret your ignoring these suggestions as not wanting to solve them. Hence the "Unrest, disturbance: The Status Quo Price Minneapolis is Willing to Pay" subtitle to Chapter 16 of our book. We particularly welcome the "staff gleaners" of the mayor and the City Council. We hope they'll place what they find here front and center in their own policy discussion regarding how to mend this community, and reverse the status quo of trying to break it up into "manageable" groups that are managed by promoting antagonism between them, not reconciliation.
Posted 8-5-06, 5:55 p.m.


8-5-06, #26: We applaud hearing of the apologies of some Black ministers and urge "Ubuntu" reconciliation in our communities of color

We have been moved by those ministers who have called the Black man they asked to leave their meeting Mondday night with the police, as he was not respectful enough of the White Chief. What they didn't know (see #25 below}, was that the proof of that lying was pulled from my TV show so they would not know.

But we need to do more. We need reconciliation between our communities of color, especially with the the Asian community. We must not allowour city DemoROBkins and DemocRATS wedge us further apart, as they continue the age old united they stand, divided they fall strategy. We are better than that to allow the City Plantation Hall and Plantation Police to wedge us apart to keep us from our unfinished dream of freedom of equal access and equal opportunity.

Reconciliation is possible. See our "Ubuntu" Reconciliation paper, and our 7 KEY THEMES, 7 KEY PROBLEMS, and 7 KEY SOLUTIONS For Solving the Problems of America's Inner Cities: In Order to Stop Deferring the Dream and to Actualize it and especially see The Blocks to Construct a Minneapolis Table for All to Sit at Together. See also Chapters 5 and especially "The Positive Future Possibilities for Minneapolis...Making No Apologies for Being Free" that is Chapter 17 of our book:

The emergency among our Black youth tells us what is at stake, and what happened to Ronald Reed and Larry Clark, as well as to Reggie Fowler, shows us what can still happen when we allow them to let us use our own color against ourselves and not stand up for our own out of fear of the Mastuh. See also my Book's Chapter 3 ("The Minneapls Courts") and Chaper 5 ("Justice and Fairness"). We can't win until we overcome our fear.
Posted 8-5-06, 5:55 p.m.


8-5-06, #25. Black ministers, no longer prophetic, set relations back with Asian Community to curry favor with Police Plantation.

The prophetic tradition, begun in the Old Testament, is for lone individuals, representing the truths of God, who stand up to declare in many ways, as Nathan did to David, "thou art the man," when rulers or any one turn their backs on God's gift of community with God and the gift of community with each other, best exemplified by the New Testament statements to love one another and to treat each other as we'd like to be treated. Our Black ministers and Black organizations have laid down their prophetic staffs. We see this often, as seen in various entries of this blog. And here is the "ironic" moment: a Black man was asked to leave the meeting as he wasn't according the White Police Chief, who was lying, enough respect. How low can you sink with your shuckin and jiven? And for a liar.
Posted 8-5-06, 5:55 p.m.


8-5-06, #24. Community TV becomes censored Police TV, setting back police community relations, as police assassinate truth once more.

Our TV show, Black Focus, which Airs Sundays, 5-6 pm, on Channel 17, MTN-TV, is taped in advance. Our show for Sunday, July 30, 2006, was pulled by city officials, because it contained the truth about the false accusations by police to justify their having killed 19 year old Fong Lee. No matter. Our position occurred in our column in the The Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder on Wednesday, August 2: " In the death of Fong Lee, Justice is Demanded." In this incident, we see another example of why we now call Mayor Rybak the city's Head DemocRAT.

The police met with the so-called Black Leadership and Black Ministers groups on Monday, July 31 st, and told them lies about Fong Lee so that they would not join with the Asian Community to stand united with them in their in its quest for truth about Fong Lee's killing. The Black leadership accepted the Chief's lies without question, and turning their backs on the Asian community, and thus showing disrespect for the Asian comunity. What a dark day in our community, as men steeped in the evils and tragedies of plantation life of their recent ancestors, fell back comfortably to take anything massa says as gospel.

Recall the facts: a 19 year old shot by a bad attitude cop, 7 shots fired, and the "dropped" pistol asserted by police to be young Mr. Lee's had not only not been fired, it had no finger prints. The Asians seek the truth. Our so-called Black leaders need to join them in their quest for truth. Is it any wonder the DemocRATS can run over us with impunity? Hence our "Black Organizations: Now Part of the Problem rather Than the Solution" sub title of Chapter 14 of our book.

Needless to say, the PCRC (Police Community Relations Council), that was set up the Department of Justice, was once again poked in the eye by this administration of DemocRATs.
Posted 8-5-06, 5:55 p.m.


8-5-06, #23. DemocRAT racism, joining Jesse's Hymietown with Lieberman in Black Face.

Here we have a story about how truly racist and anti-semitic the national DemocRATs can be, and why our so-called civil rights "leaders' have so little real influence anymore. Had a Republican done this there would have been outrage. But none for the Democrat. So when someting serious comes up, we are not listened to by DemocRATs. Hence both tone deaf Demorats and tone deaf Black "leaders" can't see why anyone would even wince at their showing a smiling Bill Clinton in large sunglasses with his arm around Connecticut Senator Joe Lieberman at a campaign stop, with Joe's face painted in minstrel black face. These are Democrats trying to defeat their Democratic Senator as he doesn't agree with the anti-war wing of the party.

This takes Jesse's "hymietown" crack several steps further (Jesse, of course, also showed up with his pregnant mistress to talk to Bill about morality during the Monica affair). Loss of prophetic voice indeed.

So where is the outrage? Where is the disowning of this? Where is the Sister Solja moment? Nowhere. You can see the picture here. And notice, it was run on one of the most liberal of web logs, The Huffington Post. Later it was quietly taken down. Another blog, Little Green Footballs put it back on so others could see. We'll soon post the actual picture here too.

DemocRATs indeed. The New York Times, of course, a purveyor of racism and anti-Israel anti-semitism, dismissed this as just the amatuers (bloggers)doing their thing, not real professionals, so it isn't that big a deal.
Posted 8-5-06, 5:55 p.m.


8-5-06, #22. Blacks are losing their prophetic voice with their plantation-ism

And we see this in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the Congress, the UN, etc., especially about education and jobs, wars, and hard decisions regarding what needs to be done to keep our freedom and liberty when many in the world, as well as in or country, seem to want to take it from us. We expect it of Whites. Why Blacks? Blacks on the national level need to get their prophetic voice back. See our piece on the NAACP heads dining with Black African Dictators.
Posted 8-5-06, 5:55 p.m.


8-5-06, #21. The New Yorker prefers "democratic" and hates democRAT. We like it.

The August 7, 2006 issue of The New Yorker helps us understand much that is going on and demonstrating how so many liberals have completely taking their eye off the prize. Recall in our current Aug 2 column, we refer to the DemoROBkins, as both the Democrats and Republicans have joined to rob us in the inner cities of education and jobs and housing (Chapters 7, 8, and 9 of our book). The Democrats run the cities and the Republicans let them. We had hoped to hear from Barach Obama about the toll the party has taken on Blacks in Chicago, especially the kids in school and Black men seeking employment, but so far very little.

At any rate, the liberal New Yorker doesn't like it when others refer to the Democratic Party as the Democrat Party (look, this is true, you can't make this stuff up), as the latter emphasizes the last syllable. You know how atheletes, especially golfers, will say its all in the wrist? Well, it can also be all in the font, and font size. So, to the New Yorker, Democrat Party becomes the DemocRAT Party. We agree. A greatsymbol. Our Mayor is a DemocRAT. The DFL is filled with DemocRATs who turned their back on and tossed out Mayor Sharon Sayles Belton, just as they did Black founder of the DFL, Nellie Stone Johnson. And, of course, our local DemocRATs of the NAACP had me expelled from the NAACP.

We thank the New Yorker for giving us another name to use that is descriptive and to the point.
Posted 8-5-06, 5:55 p.m.


8-5-06, # 20. Our blogging: still a lonely beacon in this town. The Strib still fears the new journalism and our brand of it.

Blogging: A form of journism. We still stand by our approach: facts, fairly interpreted, following our fully stated special agenda: to expose the gaps in the civil rights progress, especially in education, jobs and housing, with an agenda that is unchanged: keeping our eye on the prize of equal access and equal opportunity.

Here is what is carved on the wall of Columbia University's graduate school of journalism, from a speech by Joseph Pulizer who endowed the school.

Our republic and its press will rise or fall together. An able, disinterested, public-spirited press, with trained intelligence to know the right and courage to do it, can preserve the public virtue without which popular government is a sham and a mockery. A cynical, mercenary, demagogic press will produce in time a people as base as itself. . . .

As readers of our columns and this web site know, we consider the Strib to be too often demagogic, following a White racist agenda. That they still refuse to acknowledge our book in any way, continues the proof of our positon that the Strib won't print stories uncomfortable to the White elite. In the 1960s a popular and influential book by Marshall McLuhan, Understanding Media: the Extensions of Man made the point that the media, the messenger, often thought it was more important that the message. Our attempt is to put the emphasis on the message and its importance for our community.
Posted 8-5-06, 5:55 p.m.


8-5-06, # 19. Now Big Mother joins Big Brother watching. We prefer Big Brother, especially Big Brother MinneAPPLEless.

Because of all the consternation about listeing to telephone calls of Al Queda, we ask if the next group of people to complain will be high schoolers over the right to eat in private. The newest Big Brother: Big Mother, as in Big Mother is watching: high schools are begining to use Meal Pay Plus and Parent Online as cafeteria card payment systems: swipe for each meal. Each swipe is also shared with parents, so that Mom can monitor what kids are eating. And Google lets you look down in someone's back yard. Very interesting.
Posted 8-5-06, 5:55 p.m.


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.

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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