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2011 Columns
Quarter 2: April thru June ~ Columns #14 - #26

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June 29, 2011 Column #26: From Wirth’s Par 3 to Nordic Ski?
Now there’s a bad idea with negative consequences

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

“Gentrification: the idea “to convert [an aging area in a city] into a more affluent middle-class neighborhood, as by remodeling dwellings, resulting in increased property values and in displacement of the poor.” — Webster's Dictionary

“[Ideas] both when they are right and when they are wrong, are more powerful than is commonly understood. Indeed, the world is ruled by little else.” — John Maynard Keynes

Good ideas have consequences. Bad ideas have consequences. The new attempt at more gentrification in North Minneapolis is a bad idea with bad consequences for North Minneapolis minorities.

It makes them refugees from their homeland as middle-class Whites demand the land of the poor. It’s a way for the City to bring in higher taxes on the backs of the displaced poor (instead of providing job-qualifying education and instead of complying with hiring).

This is what the Wirth Advisory Committee is attempting by “fronting” for the City of Lakes Nordic Ski Foundation, whose agenda is to convert Wirth Park from a North Minneapolis community golf course to a cross-country ski and bike path park for those who live outside North Minneapolis.

In January 2010, a group called the Wirth Advisory Committee became, in other words, the vehicle for the mayor and some Southside politicians to gentrify North Minneapolis by displacing low-taxpaying residents.

During the summer and golf season of 2010, as meetings were being held, it became clear that the advisory committee and the Minneapolis Park Board, custodian of golf in the city’s parks system, had already signed off on closing Wirth’s Par 3 Golf Course, the recreation and enterprise facility which serves the young in general and the African American community in particular.

The battle is enjoined. Friends of Par 3 was formed to resist this treachery, made up of a group as diverse as the many colors in the rainbow of opportunity for all, including political colors. It fights the excellent propaganda program of the City of Lakes Nordic Ski Foundation.

The Foundation’s false idea is that they have the interest of the Northside community at the forefront of their plan to redevelop more skiing and bike trails in the northern portion of the Theodore Wirth Park System. This is untrue, as seen in the fact that they have made no effort to make contact for meaningful and honest discussion with either the golfing community or the African American community.

More than 7,500 young people have learned valuable life skills through a number of youth organizations in the Twin Cities using Wirth Park’s Par 3, organizations that have been there for these young people, and particularly for young African Americans.

What The City of Lakes Nordic Ski Foundation is really committed to is to continue the further gentrification against the franchise of the African American. We are disappointed in the deception once again of the park board, which just five months ago raised the ire and anger of the civil rights community by their continuing attempt to turn Martin Luther King, Jr. Park in South Minneapolis into a doggy poo-poo park.

By the park board and City of Lakes giving aid and comfort to the devious and diabolical plan of the City of Lakes Nordic Ski Foundation, it is serving gentrification and it is denying opportunity and life skills to the children of North Minneapolis.

One of the spokespersons of the City of Lakes Nordic Ski Foundation in the Nordic Ski Foundation publication had the audacity to suggest that North Minneapolis needed to capitulate and bow to the master plan for the final solution, making Wirth Par 3 disappear forever, and suggesting that the residents of North Minneapolis were being selfish. But is not the Foundation championing selfishness by asking the inner-city African American community to give up their park and their golf course to outsiders with lots more land out where they drive in from?

There is a lot of open land in the suburbs for skiing and bike trails. Let that be the target of economic uplift and Olympic competition that the City of Lakes Nordic Ski Foundation pretends they are committed to. And let North Minneapolis, and by extension the City, allow North Minneapolis to develop the goals of success for the children of North Minneapolis and others who claim their right of return to tornado-damaged neighborhoods.

We stand against wrong ideas with negative consequences. Stay tuned.

Ron Edwards (1) hosts "Black Focus" on Channel 17, MTN-TV, Sundays, 5-6 pm; (2) hosts “Black Focus” on Blog Talk radio, Sundays at 3:00 pm;and (3) co-hosts Blog Talk Radio’s “ON POINT!" Saturdays at 4 pm, providing coverage about Black Minnesota. (4) Order his books at http://www.BeaconOnTheHill.com. (5) Hear his readings, (6) read his "Through My Eyes, The Minneapolis Story Continues" weekly column; (7) read his solution papers for community planning and development, and (8) follow his "Tracking the Gaps" web log at www.TheMinneapolisStory.com. 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.

Posted Wednesday, June 29, 2011, 9:21 a.m.


June 22, 2011 Column #25: Missing files, undelivered letters, bogus lists add up to troubled times at the Minneapolis Civil Rights Dept.

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

When the Minneapolis Civil Rights Department (MCRD) investigations staff met on April 1, 2011, a lot of complainants would have liked to have heard the discussion on the status of their cases. Khalid Shariff, for example: Mr. Shariff’s case file had been “lost,” and a frantic search for his file was being conducted.

“Missing” case files is troubling in any event, but especially now, because a couple of months ago the MCRD assured the mayor and city council that it was untrue what was being stated in this column about cases being shredded or lost or “missing” (regardless of label — for the complainants they are one and the same). This is especially troubling when the EEOC is increasing compensation for cases investigated by the department.   

In the meeting of April 1, 2011 things got testy among staff when they discussed what was on page seven of the mayor’s office's critique of the MDHR investigative unit's front-loaded system in its process for screening complaints (reporting numbers of cases but not any follow-up). This comes at a time when the mayor also wanted the investigative unit to strengthen its mediation program. That too was troubling, as the MCRD has maintained publicly that it has one of the best mediation programs in the country. 

Another troubling example that represents so many other complainants is that of Mr. Keith M. Mulligan, who filed a complaint against Taco Bell a long time ago. He was finally informed, on April 11, 2011, that he had a specific number of days to respond to Taco Bell’s defense and rebuttal of his allegation. The letter was signed by Ms. Velma Korbel, the MCRD director, herself.

He never received the letter.

Mr. Mulligan, MDCR File #11-06846, didn’t receive his letter because the letter was not addressed and was consequently returned to the MCRD. As he didn’t return it as directed, his case was, in fact, dismissed. But maybe not. Maybe we’ll be told they sent out a second letter before the May 6 deadline and placed his name upon it. 

This comes again at a very troubling time for the MCRD. In fact, on June 10 the MCRD had to cancel the meeting dealing with allegations and charges by Ronald Brandon, the ousted former head of the investigative unit of the MCRD. It appears that the cancellation of the 10 o’clock meeting was because certain documents could not be retrieved. Again. 

This is a department with a hard time retrieving documents or, in the matter of the infamous list of qualified Northside contractors, has lists that actually are not what they certified them to be. And now we have anger and recrimination flying back and forth between Mike Christensen (head of Minneapolis Development Agency) on one side and Velma Korbel on the other. 

Remember that the Minneapolis Star Tribune investigative report of qualified contractors two weeks ago revealed that the list had more contractors out of compliance than contractors in compliance, and the embarrassing concerns expressed by the Minnesota Department of Labor, which advised the City to take the bogus list off its website. It was taken down, but the damage had already been done. 

In fact, the committee known as the North Side Community Response Team had already received funding, in violation of city and state law. You’ll be hearing more in the coming weeks regarding the Northside response and the North Minneapolis Recovery Fund.

I have attended those committee meetings. It was announced that the Minneapolis Foundation and Greater Twin Cities United Way gave a grant of $1 million to the North Side Relief Committee. Where is it? The committee has not received it. Who got it?

It is a wonderful concept to make repairs to 30-50 homes and protect uninsured homeowners from future property damage, as was stated in the status update of June 3, 2011 issued by the Minneapolis Foundation, Greater Twin Cities United Way, and an organization identified as GiveMN.org. I would hope that, for the sake of transparency, of absolute transparency, folks will get their acts and facts together, both within city government and within the leadership group that takes claim to being responsible for the successful recovery of a tornado-ravaged North Minneapolis.

Are all “administrative” costs necessary and are they being accounted for? As Martin Luther King again reminds us, “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.”

Stay tuned.

Ron Edwards (1) hosts "Black Focus" on Channel 17, MTN-TV, Sundays, 5-6 pm; (2) hosts “Black Focus” on Blog Talk radio, Sundays at 3:00 pm;and (3) co-hosts Blog Talk Radio’s “ON POINT!" Saturdays at 4 pm, providing coverage about Black Minnesota. (4) Order his books at http://www.BeaconOnTheHill.com. (5) Hear his readings, (6) read his "Through My Eyes, The Minneapolis Story Continues" weekly column; (7) read his solution papers for community planning and development, and (8) follow his "Tracking the Gaps" web log at www.TheMinneapolisStory.com. 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.

Posted Wednesday, June 22, 2011, 3:18 a.m.


June 15, 2011 Column #24: “Trial of the century” appeals stir muddy waters.
1992 Hoff and Harris murders resurface in court.

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

At 8:30 am December 9, 1992, a long nightmare of terror began for Wylanda Williams as she answered a knock at her door in the Chicago suburb of Oak Park, Illinois. It was police, an Oak Park police officer and two Minneapolis police detectives, all part of the investigation into the murder of slain White police officer Jerome Hoff and African American Edward Harris in Minneapolis.

This all became a part of one of the most celebrated homicide cases in modern Minneapolis history. The nightmare extended to at least 10 individuals sentenced to the penitentiary for terms ranging from 25 years to life.

The nightmare extended to 600 young Black men and their families as the 600 were rounded up, each wondering when it would happen again whenever they would go out. That is terror.

At least four homicides remain unsolved, including the murder of Edward Harris. The homicide of Officer Jerome Hoff sits at the center of a 15-year quest for justice and answers. This ongoing nightmare reign of terror that extended to friends and family is unparalleled in the history of the Minneapolis African American community.

Ms. Williams’ story became a significant part of the investigation, of the subsequent trial, and of the series of appeals. Her story illustrates how young African American women were all too often treated at that time and offers a behind-the-scenes look revealing how investigators and the court didn’t believe she, as a Black, had any constitutional rights they had to protect.

When Ms. Williams was taken to the police station in Oak Park, Illinois that fateful December 9, 1992, she was detained, threatened, and questioned for 10 hours, until she finally signed a statement she didn’t write. She was told she would testify at the trial of A.C. Ford, one of the four indicted in the killing of Officer Hoff.

On March 10, 1993, a squad of law enforcement officers, including Minneapolis detectives and the Hennepin County prosecutor, forced Ms. Williams to accompany them back to the Twin Cities, where she was held a prisoner for four days in a hotel in the vicinity of the Mall of America.

The terror continued. As revealed in Ms. Williams deposition given later, she was the victim of serious misconduct on the part of the prosecutor and, more chillingly, of the trial judge. All of these details can be found in the formal complaint filed with the Minneapolis Police Department Internal Affairs Department, September 10, 1993.

In her sworn affidavit now before the appellate court of the 8th Circuit Court, Ms. Williams stated she was forced to meet with the presiding judge who told her that her testimony was to be crafted such that they could “get A.C. Ford,” as “Once we get him, the rest of them will be easy to get.” By a judge. That’s terror.

I have recently found out that a number of appeals in the last decade have emerged, a current one being by A.C. Ford. The information, affidavits and investigations raise serious questions about what happened at “the trial of the century” that led to the convictions and their appeals.

Will justice be served? When was the last time 600 young White men were rounded up after a White person committed a serious crime?

Clearly the system was very comfortable violating Ms. Williams’ rights and extending her persecution by pursuing her all the way to the state of Georgia. The Georgia courts, to their credit, refused to extradite her back to Minnesota.

Ms. Williams dropped out of sight after the police and the prosecutor told her she was the target of a contract to take her life. Is she still alive? We wonder.

The report filed with Internal Affairs by her attorney in Oak Park, Illinois raises the question of how a system knew so much about the inner workings of gangs in the Twin Cities but could not help to identify who assigned the contract to take her life. It causes us to ask what else is going on?

There is obviously more behind this, but what? Some of this history is now contained in the appeal being pursued by Sharif Willis. It stirs a lot of muddy waters and will no doubt make extremely nervous those in law enforcement and in the judiciary system.

It will be interesting to see who, in the coming months, is revealed to have really been involved in the assassination of Officer Jerome Hoff and the murder to silence Edward Harris and others.

Stay tuned.

Ron Edwards (1) hosts "Black Focus" on Channel 17, MTN-TV, Sundays, 5-6 pm; (2) hosts “Black Focus” on Blog Talk radio, Sundays at 3:00 pm;and (3) co-hosts Blog Talk Radio’s “ON POINT!" Saturdays at 4 pm, providing coverage about Black Minnesota. (4) Order his books at http://www.BeaconOnTheHill.com. (5) Hear his readings, (6) read his "Through My Eyes, The Minneapolis Story Continues" weekly column; (7) read his solution papers for community planning and development, and (8) follow his "Tracking the Gaps" web log at www.TheMinneapolisStory.com. 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.

Posted Sunday, June 19, 7:07 p.m. Delay due to technical problems.


June 08, 2011 Column #23: When experience and knowledge truly mean something.
Real vs. Fake Ministry Responses to the North Minneapolis Tornado

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

"Let nobody fool you, all the loud noises we hear today
are nothing but the death groans of the dying system.
Martin Luther King, Jr,

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 (1) hosts "Black Focus" on Channel 17, MTN-TV, Sundays, 5-6 pm; (2) hosts “Black Focus” on Blog Talk radio, Sundays at 3:00 pm;and (3) co-hosts Blog Talk Radio’s “ON POINT!" Saturdays at 4 pm, providing coverage about Black Minnesota. (4) Order his books at http://www.BeaconOnTheHill.com. (5) Hear his readings, (6) read his "Through My Eyes, The Minneapolis Story Continues" weekly column; (7) read his solution papers for community planning and development, and (8) follow his "Tracking the Gaps" web log at www.TheMinneapolisStory.com. 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.

Posted Thursday, June 9, 2011, 4:30 a.m.


June 01, 2011 Column #22: Disaster accelerates gentrification of North Minneapolis   
Reconstruction proceeds without Black workers

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

[Editor’s note: the column suggests attend planning meetings, watching, reporting, holding group meetings, preparing, and staying tuned in. Consider using, in preparing for such discussions, including with groups of concerned neighbors, these Solution Papers #42, #43, #44, and #45, which are all listed at www.TheMinneapolisStory.com/tocsolutions.htm: What to do?

            #42, Dec 22, 2010:  About Planning
            #43, May 18, 2011:  Justice and Fairness
            #44, May 21, 2011,  Guidelines for Including Justice in Planning Meetings
            #45, May 25, 2011:  Planning:  Updated/Expanded

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.” 
Star Tribune headline, May 26, 2011: “Teams seek a total on tornado toll.”
Star Tribune headline, May 24, 2011: “A dire need for homes. More than 5,000 [with] damage to their dwellings.”

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.
 
Black and White elites began a series of meetings at Broadway Avenue and Fremont Tuesday, May 24 (City officials, City agencies, heads of nonprofits and foundations) conspiring again to falsify information that will claim minority participation in reconstruction (ghosts) with work done without Blacks. Recall the infamous “we can meet our minority hiring compliance requirements without hiring a single Black.”

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.

What to do? Attend planning meetings, watch, report, hold group meetings, prepare, and stay tuned.

Ron Edwards hosts "Black Focus" on Channel 17, MTN-TV, Sundays, 5-6 pm, and co-hosts Blog Talk Radio’s “ON POINT!" Saturdays at 4 pm, providing coverage about Black Minnesota. Order his books at http://www.BeaconOnTheHill.com. Hear his readings and read his columns, his solution papers for community planning and development, and “web log” at www.TheMinneapolisStory.com.and his "Tracking the Gaps" web log. Formerly 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 to help mold a consensus for the future of Black and White Americans together of Minneapolis.

Posted Thursday, June 2, 2011, 12:05 p.m.


May 25, 2011 Column #21: Budget battle threatens Vikings’ future

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

Since 2002, I have attempted to create a self-defeating prophecy: predicting in such harsh terms that the Vikings would leave that Minnesotans would understand the seriousness of the Los Angeles Lakers getting their sister team, the Los Angeles Vikings (all posted on my Minneapolis Story.com website).

It appears that reality has begun to set in. No agreement. No place to play. $5.1 billion state deficit. Over $1 billion stadium. Open-ended site preparation costs. So far, state leadership can’t get their collective arms around this.

The Star Tribune seems fearful of saying that this failure of state and city leadership may well guarantee the Minnesota Vikings making the long-anticipated move to Southern California.  This is not new news.

There’s been ample time for preparation to head off this disaster. We are now in a giant game of entitlement clashes and free-rider funding desires, with no Merlin around to wave his magic wand.

The Plan and the Momentum suggest a new city for Minnesota’s most prestigious sports franchise. No matter what Ramsey County commissioners say, no matter what NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell proclaims, and no matter what owner Zygi Wilf sees as his future in Minnesota, they leave the team in jeopardy. 

With no significant and meaningful action, including real dollars, the new kid on the L.A. block will be the Los Angeles Vikings, doing what the Lakers did 50 years ago.

Minnesotans deserve better. They have been loyal and faithful and have paid their fair share for 50 years to support their beloved team. The top Republicans in the Minnesota legislature say, as of the writing of this column, that no stadium plan would pass the legislature until the state’s $5.1 billion budget deficit has been solved.

Given the economic conditions in Minnesota, how will the $6.1 billion needed (budget deficit plus new stadium requirements) be dealt with? Will a little black bag be tossed at someone’s feet?

Will Zygi Wilf’s personal legal problems in New Jersey impact on whether the state thinks it can trust him? Will he take L.A.? Sell? Moving, the best business deal for the Vikings, is still a significant betrayal of loyal Minnesota Vikings fans in Minnesota, in the upper Midwest, and throughout the nation, a betrayal by all Minnesota “leaders.”

Are our “leaders” faking and pretending they have their hands around the problem when in reality they are holding the door open for the Vikings to exit? It looks like it.

This $6.1 billion problem is not new. It is the result of years of legislatures turning their backs on the future. But the future is here. Now. And broke. It is not a realistic possibility for the Vikings to be saved without active leadership from the state.

This is another part of the warnings in my books, blogs and columns: a decline in the quality of life in this country, where rich get richer and poor get poorer, with those in-between being forced to pay down the foolishly accrued debt.

Why is keeping a prized sports franchise no longer a priority for the politicians elected by the fans? It is so sad.

A great institution, a great sports franchise, is on the verge of disappearing from both the Minnesota sports scene and Minnesota’s economic base. The Vikings provided a lot of revenue and a lot of jobs. Someone owes the Vikings faithful an explanation for what is about to happen and why.

Stay tuned.

Ron Edwards hosts "Black Focus" on Channel 17, MTN-TV, Sundays, 5-6 pm, and co-hosts Blog Talk Radio’s “ON POINT!" Saturdays at 5 pm, providing coverage about Black Minnesota. Order his books at http://www.BeaconOnTheHill.com. Hear his readings and read his columns, his solution papers and his "Tracking the Gaps" web log. Formerly 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 to help mold a consensus for the future of Black and White Americans together of Minneapolis.

Posted Wednesday, May 25, 2011, 2:30 a.m.


May 18, 2011 Column #20: Stanek, Keefe, Delmonico, Arneson: four who strive to make a difference

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

When William McManus came to town from Washington, D.C. to head up the Minneapolis Police Department (MPD), he determined quickly that there were good officers in this department who could make a positive difference.

For instance, consider the names heading this column: Stanek, Keefe, Delmonico, Arneson — three males, one female, all White. These four officers, despite the attempts of the Minneapolis’ mayor and his chief of police successor to McManus, Tim Dolan, to sabotage them, made every effort to make a difference in race relations and community policing.

William McManus took the job as chief here because he believed what he was told by the city council and Mayor R.T. Rybak, that community policing, acceptance of diversity, and better race relations were the order of the day. And so, McManus set out to put in place a team that would make the effort to make a difference, but he quickly found out that the acceptance of diversity was a sham.

All four of these officers are visionaries. But everyone quickly realized that there was little support for William McManus moving them into positions of significant responsibility and leadership.

The individual the mayor positioned to watch Chief McManus was the then-assistant chief, Tim Dolan. Dolan, with the mayor’s blessing, undermined and sabotaged the vision.

There was resentment and hostility toward Captain Rich Stanek, a man who talked about and attempted to bring the Criminal Investigative Division into the 21st century. He is now the sheriff of Hennepin County.

There was hatred and resentment toward Lt. Michael Keefe, a man who did not believe in the old police politics of deviousness, misrepresentation and racism. The Dolan administration demoted him to sergeant.

There was fear and resentment of big John Delmonico, the president of the Police Federation, a man who sincerely believed that there was a place for positive relationships between communities of color and the federation that he still heads.

And there was definitely hostility and gender bias against Inspector Chris Arneson, a woman who believes that this is a golden opportunity to bring together all shades and shapes of diverse interests and communities in order to treat every citizen of our city with dignity and respect.

I had the pleasure of working closely with three of the four individuals while serving on the Police Community Relations Council. I know well the efforts made to undermine Lt. John Delmonico’s commitment to diversity and the plan he put together.

We sat and met and worked on that plan to bring greater diversity to this department. At every turn, the current administration (City Hall, the mayor and the current chief) did everything they could to disrupt, undermine and sabotage the efforts of the federation and its president, Delmonico.

All four of these officers are sincere, dedicated, and willing to put their careers on the line to make a difference within this department to fulfill the mission of the police: to serve and protect. This is what Chuck Wexler, executive director of PERT (Police Executive Research Forum) in Washington, D.C., recently talked about in Seattle when he talked about building police-community bridges, cultivating police-community trust, and ensuring police-community respect.

Instead, in Minneapolis, the department has obstructed and sabotaged, including obstructing and sabotaging the efforts of four White officers who attempted to make a positive difference. This takes me back to when I began this column eight years ago, reporting back then and on through to today the bogus allegations against Black police officers by White officers who pushed the line of racism, nullification and reversal.

Let’s not forget that there was a time in this county and city when officers worked to make a difference. In the words of Chuck Wexler, that is what makes the difference between success and failure in relations between the community and the police department.

We have failed the test here in Minneapolis to bring about a true and honest commitment to doing the right thing, to establish meaningful relationships, and to reach out to all of our citizens regardless of race, creed or national origin.

The one thing healthy at this hour is the pending litigation on both sides of the aisle. If allowed to go to trial, we will find who is working to nullify and undermine those committed to making a difference. Stanek, Keefe, Delmonico, and Arneson: police officers committed to working toward making a positive difference in our city, every day.

Stay tuned.

Ron Edwards hosts "Black Focus" on Channel 17, MTN-TV, Sundays, 5-6 pm, and co-hosts Blog Talk Radio’s “ON POINT!" Saturdays at 5 pm, providing coverage about Black Minnesota. Order his books at http://www.BeaconOnTheHill.com. Hear his readings and read his columns, his solution papers and his "Tracking the Gaps" web log. Formerly 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 to help mold a consensus for the future of Black and White Americans together of Minneapolis.


May 11, 2011 Column #19: Peace in our time? I don’t think so.

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

How many times will papers be waved to proclaim “Peace in our time”? What of the Emancipation Proclamation’s “Slavery is over,” or the Gettysburg Address echoing the Declaration of Independence: “All men are created equal”?

How about “Reconstruction in our time” leading to Jim Crow, or “Civil Rights in Our Time” leading to fewer Black businesses than before the Civil Rights Movement and worse results in education, jobs and housing? And let’s not forget the War on Poverty that led to more poverty rather than “the end of poverty in our time.”

And now a new proclamation: Osama bin Laden is dead, so it’s “peace in our time” again. I don’t think so.

Real peace features equal access and opportunity, equal employment, equal education levels and equal neighborhood quality of life; in a word, prosperity.

President Barrack Obama’s proclamation May 1, 2011 that Osama bin Laden had been shot and killed in a private compound just north of the Pakistani capital of Islamabad ended one of the great manhunts and vendettas of all time. But it did not end the hunt for peace and prosperity.

One of the more fruitless rhetorical flourishes of the 1930s was British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlin boarding his plane at Germany’s Munich airport and waving a signed peace treaty with one of history’s greatest butchers, Adolph Hitler, declaring “Peace in our time.” That treaty’s cost came in installments.

The first cost? The sovereignty of Czechoslovakia. A river of costs followed, including eight years of fighting and 100 million deaths. Pieces, but not peace. Posers but not prosperity.

What new papers and proclamations will be waved claiming the end of conflict and poverty, with happy days here again yet without reconstruction, without equal access and without equal opportunity?

This triggers important questions. The answers will greatly affect our future as individuals, as communities, and as a nation. What do we stand for?

Will the billions of dollars spent on the War on Terror be redirected to the domestic budgets of the states, cities and towns? Will over three million jobs be returned to American shores? Will gasoline prices revert to economically acceptable levels for the American consumer?

Will America see its quality of life begin to climb back to the levels of the 1980s? Will there be a commitment and priority given to Black American peace and prosperity, to bringing into the economic mainstream of America those still left out?

The answers so far have not included all.

In 10 weeks or less, the momentary spike in approval ratings and popularity for the president will again fall. Yes, Osama bin Laden is dead and in hell. But it’s still hell right here in Minnesota for too many Blacks denied education and jobs such that Black unemployment is 22 percent while White unemployment is only 6.5 percent — a 15.5 percent gap.

Reality is messy. People and events are rarely all wrong or all right. The truth is somewhere in between, made even more difficult by the War on Terror as solutions are debated and each side accuses the other of violating the Constitution while both parties violate the rights of “the least of these.”

The questions posed in this column are valid. Should Americans be expected to continue to sacrifice for nations that continue bin Laden’s war? Or should we pull out, contain them as we did the USSR, and spend our money on the needs of our people?

Members of the majority media are united in their sense of post-bin Laden unity. But that was not my take. We have long memories. No matter how united the majority media may seem to be today, Black America has a long memory and knows the doctrine that when the Mastah is happy, we should smile too.

Are we now to assume the demise of Osama bin Laden will lead to peace and prosperity in our time, and that again the African American will enjoy prosperity and access to opportunity? Or is this just one more partial process?

Historically, wars bring prosperity, first to both sides (as the House of Rothschild demonstrated for three centuries), then just to the winner. We urge peace and prosperity. Answer this: Why, after a decade of wars, do Blacks have a much higher percentage of unemployment than Whites?
Go to my website for ways to bring prosperity as well as peace. Who will stand up for it? Who will actually act on it?

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 3:00 pm, and co-hosts Blog Talk Radio’s “ON POINT!" Saturdays at 4 pm, providing coverage about Black Minnesota. Order his books at http://www.BeaconOnTheHill.com. Hear his readings and read his columns, his solution papers and his "Tracking the Gaps" web log. Formerly 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 to help mold a consensus for the future of Black and White Americans together of Minneapolis.

Posted Wednesday, May 11, 2011, 7:00 a.m


May 04, 2011 Column #18: When Discipline is Broken and Integrity is Lost. Peculiar Conduct by VOTF Members

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

One of the important aspects of discipline within a paramilitary unit is to respect the decisions and orders given. One of the most important aspects of police-community relations is mutual respect between police and the citizens police are sworn to protect. When police departments don’t follow their own rules procedures, discipline breaks down. And when officers lose respect for each other and the citizens they have sworn to serve and protect, integrity is lost and police-community relations break down, endangering both police and citizens.

We see this in the context of the situation that led to discipline meted out to members of the VOTF unit (Violent Offenders Task Force), which could be disbanded due to its break down of discipline and integrity (reported in the Star Tribune, Feb 14, 2011, 2 Mpls. officers sue, alleging retaliatory demotions). Assistant Chief Janae Hartung directed Lt. Smith and Sgt. King, pursuant to Article 16 of the Labor Agreement, to not be present or be upon the property of the MPD or the FBI without prior authorization from the Assistant Chief of Police.

That was puzzling. Why didn’t it come from current Chief Tim Dolan? Assistant Chief Hartung was obviously the presiding authority in investigating Lt. Smith and Sgt. King, so regardless of who initiated this action, the policies of the department recognize that authority and, consequently, the issue of integrity holds.

The lawsuit filed April 5, 2011, by Lt. Smith and Sgt King against the department illustrates the breakdown in discipline and loss of integrity within the department (see my April 20, 2011 column, New lawsuit continues old MPD cover-up of White corruption).

Rumors are rampant. The Star Tribune piece reported significant overtime for Lt. Smith and Sgt. King. The integrity breakdown is seen when the all-important facts and evidence are carefully examined. We know, based upon a similar action taken against Lt. Michael Keith three and a half years ago by Lt. Smith and Sgt. King, that they well understand the integrity of the process even as we see them intentionally violating the law (see my column of August 29, 2007, A profile in courage and integrity—the saga of Lt. Michael Keefe.

Sgt. King states in his court filings that he had not yet received the letter of Feb 14, 2011, warning him not to come onto the property of the MPD or the FBI without prior authorization. Why is the truth of this important? Because the last place he was allowed to go were the offices of VOTF.

Going there, not to mention removing any documents having to do with the directive of Assistant Chief Janae Hartung, would be acting against her directive and violate the integrity of the process and the investigation if he did so knowing he was not allowed to. Many have raised this disturbing question: Was there a large black book containing very privileged and protected information removed from the VOTF office by Sgt. King in direct violation of the assistant chief’s order?

This question is raised due to the listing of two emails, dated October 3 and 6, in the filings of the Smith-King case of April 5, 2011. Some are alleging that very sensitive information is missing from the files of the VOTF unit, including important information dealing with both overtime and, as surprising as this sounds, the theft of cases of other agencies. Are the documents in that black book? You see, one of the things that happens when you start to abuse or steal overtime is you start stealing from other folks’ overtime and cases.

For the sake of the integrity and the importance of justice equally applied, citizens have a right to know if this kind of gamesmanship was going on inside VOTF and other elite units of the Minneapolis Police Department. Consequently, this leads us once again to my statement in my April 27 column (It’s déjà vu with the MPD as history repeats itself), that it is important to ask Chief Dolan what and who was he talking about in his letter of January 26, 2010.

The taxpaying public is owed an explanation.

It is important that the community and the police trust each other. As I write this, the think tank Police Executive Research Forum (PERF), is holding its annual meeting in Seattle with a session called “Shooting of Police Officers.” It blames “anxieties, anger and untreated mental illness.” As PERF Executive Director Chuck Wexler has said, too many police departments refuse “to confront strained relationships with African American, Latino and other minority groups” due to “a legacy of mistrust that has plagued law enforcement’s dealings with minority communities.”

Stay tuned.

Ron Edwards hosts "Black Focus" on Channel 17, MTN-TV, Sundays, 5-6 pm, and co-hosts Blog Talk Radio’s “ON POINT!" Saturdays at 4 pm, providing coverage about Black Minnesota. Order his books at http://www.BeaconOnTheHill.com. Hear his readings and read his columns, his solution papers and his "Tracking the Gaps" web log. Formerly 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 to help mold a consensus for the future of Black and White Americans together of Minneapolis.

Posted Wednesday, May 4, 2011, 11:55 a.m.


April 27, 2011 Column #17: TITLE HERE

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

Budget battle threatens Vikings’ future

May 25, 2011, Column #21
"Through My Eyes, the Minneapolis Story Continues"
A weekly column by Ron Edwards
Featured in the Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder

Since 2002, I have attempted to create a self-defeating prophecy: predicting in such harsh terms that the Vikings would leave that Minnesotans would understand the seriousness of the Los Angeles Lakers getting their sister team, the Los Angeles Vikings (all posted on my Minneapolis Story.com website).

It appears that reality has begun to set in. No agreement. No place to play. $5.1 billion state deficit. Over $1 billion stadium. Open-ended site preparation costs. So far, state leadership can’t get their collective arms around this.

The Star Tribune seems fearful of saying that this failure of state and city leadership may well guarantee the Minnesota Vikings making the long-anticipated move to Southern California.  This is not new news.

There’s been ample time for preparation to head off this disaster. We are now in a giant game of entitlement clashes and free-rider funding desires, with no Merlin around to wave his magic wand.

The Plan and the Momentum suggest a new city for Minnesota’s most prestigious sports franchise. No matter what Ramsey County commissioners say, no matter what NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell proclaims, and no matter what owner Zygi Wilf sees as his future in Minnesota, they leave the team in jeopardy. 

With no significant and meaningful action, including real dollars, the new kid on the L.A. block will be the Los Angeles Vikings, doing what the Lakers did 50 years ago.

Minnesotans deserve better. They have been loyal and faithful and have paid their fair share for 50 years to support their beloved team. The top Republicans in the Minnesota legislature say, as of the writing of this column, that no stadium plan would pass the legislature until the state’s $5.1 billion budget deficit has been solved.

Given the economic conditions in Minnesota, how will the $6.1 billion needed (budget deficit plus new stadium requirements) be dealt with? Will a little black bag be tossed at someone’s feet?

Will Zygi Wilf’s personal legal problems in New Jersey impact on whether the state thinks it can trust him? Will he take L.A.? Sell? Moving, the best business deal for the Vikings, is still a significant betrayal of loyal Minnesota Vikings fans in Minnesota, in the upper Midwest, and throughout the nation, a betrayal by all Minnesota “leaders.”

Are our “leaders” faking and pretending they have their hands around the problem when in reality they are holding the door open for the Vikings to exit? It looks like it.

This $6.1 billion problem is not new. It is the result of years of legislatures turning their backs on the future. But the future is here. Now. And broke. It is not a realistic possibility for the Vikings to be saved without active leadership from the state.

This is another part of the warnings in my books, blogs and columns: a decline in the quality of life in this country, where rich get richer and poor get poorer, with those in-between being forced to pay down the foolishly accrued debt.

Why is keeping a prized sports franchise no longer a priority for the politicians elected by the fans? It is so sad.

A great institution, a great sports franchise, is on the verge of disappearing from both the Minnesota sports scene and Minnesota’s economic base. The Vikings provided a lot of revenue and a lot of jobs. Someone owes the Vikings faithful an explanation for what is about to happen and why.

Stay tuned.

Ron Edwards hosts "Black Focus" on Channel 17, MTN-TV, Sundays, 5-6 pm, and co-hosts Blog Talk Radio’s “ON POINT!" Saturdays at 5 pm, providing coverage about Black Minnesota. Order his books at http://www.BeaconOnTheHill.com. Hear his readings and read his columns, his solution papers and his "Tracking the Gaps" web log. Formerly 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 to help mold a consensus for the future of Black and White Americans together of Minneapolis.

Posted Wednesday, May 25, 2011, 2:30 a.m.

April 20, 2011 Column #16: New lawsuit continues old MPD cover-up of White corruption

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

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.
We don’t have enough space in this week’s column to go deeper into the Smith-King allegations against current Black police officers, but I will share with you the prediction I made in a civil rights complaint that I filed on August 13, 2007 (MDCR File #A6457-EM-1F-RP).

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 hosts "Black Focus" on Channel 17, MTN-TV, Sundays, 5-6 pm, and co-hosts Blog Talk Radio’s “ON POINT!" Saturdays at 5 pm, providing coverage about Black Minnesota. Order his books at http://www.BeaconOnTheHill.com. Hear his readings and read his columns, his solution papers and his "Tracking the Gaps" web log. Formerly 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 to help mold a consensus for the future of Black and White Americans together of Minneapolis.
Posted Wednesday, April 6, 2011 7:11 a.m.

Posted Wednesday, April 13, 2011, 12:22 a.m.

RELATED COLUMNS:

May 6, 2009 Column #17: Courageous witness may expose race-based MPD corruption


January 17, 2007 Column #2: The End Of Diversity In The MPD: Another example of "The Forces of Nullification and Reversal"

May 23, 2007 Column #11: Black officers under siege: the shame of the MPD

August 15, 2007 Column #17: Why Blacks are not allowed to command: The bleaching of the Minneapolis Police Department

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

December 20, 2006 Column #26: When the facts disappear, Minneapolis-style. Neo-Nazi sympathies behind "day of infamy"

December 27, 2006 Column #27: The Fifty Cent Solution: Our Review of 2006 in Minneapolis


April 13, 2011 Column #15: Can Minnesota afford another stadium?
Difficult times force difficult choices

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

Tuesday’s April 5, 2011 edition of the Star Tribune reported an unveiling of the legislation for a new Minnesota Vikings Stadium (“Vikings stadium bill skirts vote on sales tax”) that will allow a local government to increase sales taxes for the project without taking it to the voters first. This is the same controversial strategy used in 2006 for the Twins’ Target Field.

In 2006, 2008 was still two years away (global recession, near collapse of Wall Street and the mortgage markets, 38 percent losses in 401 Ks/mutual funds/stocks). To this we now add the projected Minnesota budget deficiency of over $5 billion. Those who called it “riskless” dismissed those who suggested a coming financial crisis in 2006 as Cassandras.

In 2006, the citizens of Hennepin County were not happy about not having a voice. Since 2006, the voters’ trust in their government leaders has been shaken, as seen in the election results of 2010 causing the re-emergence of the Republicans as a significant political force in Minnesota, taking control of both the House and the Senate. In fact, it was like musical chairs with Republicans now controlling the legislature and the Democrats now in the governor’s office.

For going on seven years at least, it’s been “Will they or won’t they?” regarding the legislature and stadium funding legislation. There are significant questions to deal with:

(1) The $5 billion state deficit;

(2) High unemployment;

(3) Brutal cuts made to the proposed state budget, including cutting $32 million out of transportation;

(4) The NFL and Vikings stating, 1995-1997, that without a new stadium the Vikings would have to move to another city;

(5) The view voiced by Tony Dungy in the Star Tribune last week that without new stadiums, teams have to move;

(6) The 1997 statement of Henry Savakoul, then chair of the Sports Facility Commission, that the Twin Cities can only support three professional teams; and

(7) The roll call (including Savakoul) of those who say that the odd team out that has to leave is the Vikings. Where is the roll call for alternative, non-taxing methods of funding a stadium?

The previous DFL legislature did not pass a Vikings stadium-funding bill. The new Republican-controlled Minnesota legislature is now considering a stadium-funding bill. Some legislators in the Star Tribune story discussed a new stadium in terms of a gravy train for the Vikings.

An editorial in that April 5 paper (“Legislature should back pre-K ratings”) reported on those in the legislature opposed to the recommendations of the Minnesota Early Learning Foundation (MELF), seeking instead to reduce the opportunity for educational enhancement for Minnesota’s children and specifically low-income families. [See also Editorial: Support teaching, but not status quo and Editorial: A mixed bag of education proposals.]

The legislature has already proposed eliminating aid for the three largest cities (Minneapolis, St. Paul, Duluth).

Cutting education and cities leads me to ask the following questions: Can Minnesota, in the face of the $5 billion state deficit, afford to raise taxes for a new Vikings stadium? Should the decision be taken out of the hands of voters by skirting the law that requires voter approval and concurrence of communities being discussed as a site for any tax increases? Both Republican and DFL legislators are split amongst themselves over these questions.

How cautious will Minnesota’s elected and appointed public officials and sports barons be in their dismissal and disregard of the passions of the citizens of the state’s counties and municipalities in regard to imposing additional debt on them and on the futures of their children?

There has been a lot of talk in America among the DFL, Tea Party, and Republicans regarding providing a better tomorrow for the children of our nation. The legislature must allow Minnesota’s taxpaying parents and citizens to have a say, “aye” or “nay”, on the future of Minnesota. How important is the goal of having a reasonably debt-free state for our children by the time they reach maturity?

Is the building of a Vikings stadium and the passing of a football more important than the quality of the future opportunities we prefer for our children? Do we provide a level playing field for them in our schools and community, or force benefits considered to be part of what is needed for citizens be applied to a stadium?

These are difficult times for America in general and for Minnesota in particular. Citizens require and demand clear and honest thinking. They ask for a concise and honest debate, as more than a stadium is at stake. Hanging in the balance is the future of the state of Minnesota and those who will ultimately be asked to govern the future of this great state.

Stay tuned.

Ron Edwards hosts "Black Focus" on Channel 17, MTN-TV, Sundays, 5-6 pm, and co-hosts Blog Talk Radio’s “ON POINT!" Saturdays at 5 pm, providing coverage about Black Minnesota. Order his books at http://www.BeaconOnTheHill.com. Hear his readings and read his columns, his solution papers and his "Tracking the Gaps" web log. Formerly 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 to help mold a consensus for the future of Black and White Americans together of Minneapolis.

Posted Wednesday, April 13, 2011, 12:22 a.m.


April 06, 2011 Column #14: Partitioning a nation and seizing its assets is serious business
"Through My Eyes, the Minneapolis Story Continues"
A weekly column by Ron Edwards
Featured in the Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder

During his address to the nation on Libya on Monday, March 28, 2011, at National Defense University in Washington, D.C., President Obama made mention of the $80 billion in Libyan funds that have been seized in the United States. This is in addition to the $165 billion seized so far from banks throughout Europe, led by the Swiss, French and British. [Transcript here; video here]

Our president said the Libyan people could rest assured that their money would be safe with the United States of America. This columnist respectfully disagrees, as we ask, “Safe for who?” and point out that the money will mostly go to protect oil, not citizens. Otherwise, why not the same “humanitarian” action in sub-Sahara Africa?

As Republican Senators McCain of Arizona, McConnell of Kentucky, and Sessions of Alabama have publicly stated, these seized funds and assets are to be used to pay for NATO’s latest crusade in North Africa.

$245 billion would get a lot of people health care in this country. Instead, Europe, including countries whose initials spell out PIGS (Portugal, Ireland, Greece, Spain), will have clear, legal title to these seized assets with either the departure or death of Moammar Gaddafi.

Also on display last week, in Paris on March 28 and 29, was the old European arrogance of the Berlin Conference of 1884-1885 that divided up Africa, the second largest continent, into European territories and “spheres” of influence and interest that exist today. Foreign Ministers of 30 countries, primarily European and Christian and now joined by the United States and Canada, met to establish a legal partitioning of Libya, especially assigning Libyan oil fields to this European coalition as well as some to Egypt to give it a Muslim-Arab face.

Is this economic adjustment for Libya to be the future of other North African oil fields? Is Europe, which once reduced a place of 10,000 peoples and tribes to 54 sovereign states and seven territories, now reducing it to six economic categories: oil fields, mines, deserts, savannas, migrating herds and coast lines? What’s next for Africa’s one billion people?

Contract law, extremely valued in the Western world, is often referred to as “civilized action among civilized people and nations.” Contract law understands the perceived need for transparency in taking other folks’ property. With the $245 billion already seized, we see major trans-American and trans-European oil companies doing business in Libya from the confines and safety of backroom economic plotting in order to bring additional windfalls for them.

But first of all, the current contracts must be adjusted to factor in the new provisional government for Libya (with oil fields in the West near Tripoli and the non-oil field of the Eastern Libyan town, Benghazi). In fact, the leadership of the new provisional government has been summoned to Paris after first being summoned to meetings in Ethiopia, the purpose being to make it appear there is transparency in dealing with the availability of Libyan assets to pay for the conflict in this North African nation.

It’s no accident the general public is not given significant details. Instead, we have all been invited to a pep rally centered around the doctrine that these 30 nations will provide for a new Libya. It sounds good on paper and on television to have it said that $245 billion in seized Libyan assets will be held in escrow for the little brown people of Libya.

But the partitioning of a nation and seizing of its assets is a serious, precedent-setting action in the ongoing debate on international norms. This column would certainly hope that after the Tomahawk missiles and the bombs have stopped raining down on Libya, the Libyan people will have returned to them their $245 billion. Let’s hope that within a couple of years we’ll all be able to praise a new, economically emerging Libya with a rising standard of living and a significantly changing quality of life that could not be achieved under Moammar Gaddafi.

Of course, we must assume that the Libyans will receive a bill for this Great War and for their new-found freedom. Our Congress is saying that if you want to enjoy freedom, you have to pay for it or wait for it.

Are you listening, Black America? Too many of our inner-city communities are still waiting for their 40 acres and a mule as new minorities push us further back in the line. Will Libya be another dream deferred by another 10-year war?

Stay tuned.

Ron Edwards hosts "Black Focus" on Channel 17, MTN-TV, Sundays, 5-6 pm, and co-hosts Blog Talk Radio’s “ON POINT!" Saturdays at 5 pm, providing coverage about Black Minnesota. Order his books at http://www.BeaconOnTheHill.com. Hear his readings and read his columns, his solution papers and his "Tracking the Gaps" web log. Formerly 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 to help mold a consensus for the future of Black and White Americans together of Minneapolis.



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 entries 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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