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2015 Columns
Quarter 3: July thru September ~ Columns #27 - #39

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September, 24, 2015 #39: Violence in downtown continues unabated

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

September 24, 2015

Pull quote:
The indictment of Phil Davis and his son, a Minneapolis police officer, regarding the disappearance of millions of dollars from a federally funded program called “Community Action,” underscores that this is a failure of both Black and White leadership.

Ten people shot, one killed in the heart of downtown and on the near north side of the city on September 12, all in 90 minutes.

Downtown Minneapolis gunfire is unnerving for businesses,” headlines the StarTribune, September 14, 2015. Included: not-so-subtle dangerous racial inferences, as if downtown would be safer with a border wall built to keep out North Minneapolis.

Instead, how about a bridge to freedom: reduce violence by establishing and instituting an economic agenda that includes training and education that leads to jobs and decent housing protected by public safety officers.

The Cowles Center for Dance and the Performing Arts wants protection when shows are over. The StarTribune admits it is a known fact that “The gunfire fits a pattern of violence when bars close and large crowds spill into the streets of downtown.” With such knowledge, why no planning to deal with it?

The executive director of the Warehouse District Business Association admonished the mayor and city council about violence: “Let’s stop this before that happens.” Again, that would require a plan. For a dozen years we’ve predicted the carnage of summers of violence. Most recently, on April 2 and 30, and July 16 and 23, 2015, and last year on July 16 and 23, 2014. And still no plan.

My July 23, 2015 column discussed the presentation of Sheriff Rich Stanek at the Shiloh Temple International Ministries Church regarding increased violence and the lack of a plan to address the violence.

A sense of hopelessness and rage is brewing among African and Native Americans in general and, in particular, their youth. Is this violence and economic loss the price White and Black leadership are willing to pay to maintain the status quo of not allowing access for every Minnesotan to fairness and the right to work all job sites, which would enable them to gain access to a future of prosperity, equality and liberty?

Since that Shiloh Temple meeting, there have been over 40 people shot and wounded. At least eight have died. Proportionately, this ranks with Chicago, Detroit, Philadelphia, and yet still no plan. We were once “Murderopolis,” Will we be again?

This price that Black and White Minneapolis leaders are willing to pay to keep their status quo is a clear sense of disrespect for our community and our youth, as if our survival is less important than their privileged status quo.

The indictment of Phil Davis and his son, a Minneapolis police officer, regarding the disappearance of millions of dollars from a federally funded program called “Community Action,” underscores that this is a failure of both Black and White leadership. The dike of tolerance of this is at last breaking. Who can we trust to lead so that our rights are not violated and our future is no longer threatened and compromised?

As Thurgood Marshall said, “There's no difference between a black snake and a white snake. They both bite.”

How much longer do our Black and White “leaders” expect African Americans to continue to be flogged, marginalized, and disrespected, and thus continue to suffer the casualties and the pain of a people being pushed over the edge? Will Dr. King’s nonviolence strategy be adopted or the nihilism of violence?

People do not like the word genocide, but we see a genocide against African and Native Americans in Minnesota, as our doors of opportunity and our dreams of equality and survival are trampled. Let’s build and not tear down. Let’s work together to avoid becoming the European scene of roundups and interior fences.

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

Published September 24, 2015
Posted Wednesday, September 30, 2015, 1:50 a.m.


September, 17, 2015 #38: Assassin of nine faces the Charlotte SC court. Prosecutor and solicitor general seeks death penalty.

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

September 17, 2015

Pull quote: Mr. Roof was off the radar for 14 hours between the time he shot and killed the nine African Americans and when he was apprehended outside Shelby, NC.  How?
My July 2 column (“Well-planned execution in Charleston, South Carolina: Was one of America’s most respected Black leaders the target?”), raised the question of whether the killing of one of the most powerful and respected pastors and politicians in South Carolina, State Senator/Rev. Clementa Pinckney, was a targeted assassination.
My July 9 column (“Unanswered questions in Charleston, SC: Dylan Roof: the disappearing person of interest”), raised questions about Dylann Roof, the 21-year-old White murderer-executioner terrorist who slaughtered the nine during their prayer and Bible study led by Pastor Pinckney, at Charleston’s historic Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME), Wednesday, June 17, 2015.

In this column, we explore the manhunt and surprising announcement last week by Scarlett Wilson, chief prosecutor and solicitor in Charleston county, that she seeks the death penalty for Dylann Roof, who is an embarrassing albatross around the necks of city officials charged with public safety. Roof’s evil, horrible crime was driven by hatred-fueled racism. We need to learn more about whether he was a lone wolf or, as I suspect, working with friends and co-conspirators.
Mr. Roof was off the radar for 14 hours between the time he shot and killed the nine African Americans and when he was apprehended outside Shelby, NC.  As we continue to follow this story, we pose the following questions:

We are also puzzled about the shooting of two White journalists in Roanoke, VA, where highway patrol was quickly on the alleged shooter, Mr. Williams, an African American, by using a very sophisticated scanning system that could read license plates and identify the driver in seconds. Why did this not happen with Mr. Roof in his flight from Charleston, SC, driving on a major interstate highway and secondary state highways? Thus we continue to ask: what other assistance did Dylan Roof have?

If it was not for a very vigilant White florist outside of Shelby, NC, Mr. Roof would have disappeared into the mountains of western North Carolina. He would have been close to one the most renowned White supremacist training camps along Tennessee State Route 321, just outside of Greenville, Tennessee.

Let us not be fooled, Dylan Roof was known to law enforcement officers in at least four different states — Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Tennessee. In York, SC, prior to the massacre in Charleston, he had been seen in the company of well-known and extremely dangerous White supremacists. The Washington Post, The New York Times, and CNN, are not giving us the full history of this young 21-year-old White terrorist, who carried out this well-planned assassination and execution.

These kinds of planning exercises take place all across America. The African American community needs to ask the hard questions about a possible race war in America. Whether the warning comes from the Rev. Louis Farakahn, evangelical pastors, or the pope himself, their warnings about being prepared, are not to be taken lightly.   We acknowledge, as they do, the very real threats in the corridors of racial hatred and animus.
So we will continue to raise the questions during the course of the ongoing investigations into the massacre in Charleston, SC.
Stay tuned.

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

To date: 47 Solution Papers.

Published Thursday, September 17, 2015
Posted TMS, Wednesday, September 30, 2015, 1:50 a.m.


September, 10, 2015 #37: Will the stadium come in on time?Accidents, mistrust, and internal fighting

September 10, 2015

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

and online weekly Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder News Online

Thursday, Sept 10, 2015

Will the Vikings stadium be ready by July 1, 2016? We wonder, given the internal strife at the Minnesota Sports Facility Authority (MSFA) and its deep wounds of accusations and mistrust that have surfaced about mismanagement and miscalculations. And what other potential delays from major accidents, acts of nature, or shipping of materials?

The stadium needs a competent and exacting Sports Authority to deal with the turmoil around former State Senator and MSFA Treasurer Duane Benson’s resignation from the MSFA, and his accusations of mismanagement and mishandling of funds leading to cost overruns.

In our book, The Minneapolis Story (Chapter 15, p. 132), we reported findings of the July 2000 Journal of The American Planning Association Cost overruns were the norm, averaging 28 percent for the 258 large construction projects sampled between 1910-1998, on a billion-dollar stadium that means $280 million.

Our book was handed personally to, among others, the Minneapolis mayor, Minneapolis city council (all but two council members returned it, unwrapped, unread), the governor’s office, the University of Minnesota, the Humphrey Center, the Vikings, the Star Tribune, the NAACP, and the Minneapolis Urban League (the latter two urging folks not to buy or read the book). So this is not new.

Who will pay for cost overruns? The legislation says the contractor, but contractor Mortensen says no.

Mortonsen is suing the MSFA, the Minnesota Sports Facilitie, demanding arbitration and mediation in the hopes of being relieved from any obligation to cover change orders, a form of cost overruns. In the meantime, the Star Tribune and others have not reported a firm number regarding cost overruns to date.

Are recent accidents due to the desperation to meet the July 1, 2016 deadline? Mortenson, who has quite a sweetheart deal, is not making payroll; it’s been shifted to the tax payer. Just what is the sweetheart deal with Mortenson?

We wonder whether Sports Facility’s $30 million slush fund will be deflated before April 2016, as is now being rumored. Departed MSFA Board Treasurer Duane Benson, who was berated as untrustworthy and a liar, is now clearly seen as having told the truth about the construction lies and deceptions.

A delay of 10 days of the 2016 opening, let alone 25-30 days or more, would be disastrous. The legislative oversight committee and the Star Tribune have been extremely quiet.

What are the contingency plans, if any, if the stadium is not ready for the first pre-season game in August 2016? We know what happens to Mortenson: pay $5 million for the delay as well as almost $5 million per game not played in the new stadium.

Decades long background clues are provided in Stadium Games: Fifty Years of Big League Greed and Bush League Boondoggles, by Star Tribune reporter Jay Weiner (The University of Minnesota Press, 2000). Also see my comments on Stadium Games, The Minneapolis Story, pp. 258-261.
Weiner made clear the villains were not the NFL and Vikings team owners, but Minnesota officials and legislators and the Minneapolis officials and city council. Vikings current ownership is why the team is still in Minnesota, bucking what key “leaders” wanted over a decade ago:  for the Vikings to leave town.

Ted Mondale admitted in open session that few Blacks were hired in the construction of the Gophers’ and Twins’ stadiums, but that it would be different with the Vikings Stadium. He lied. The numbers reported of Blacks hired have been false. [Ed. see our October 17, 2012 column, 5th paragraph. See also 30 columns listed in my solution paper #46, going back to 2005, recording one of the greatest ongoing betrayals in the history of perceived Minnesota participation.]

So much time and effort has been put into avoiding highly skilled laborers and managers who are Black, that the eyes of oversight have been distracted, taking their eyes off of the prize of completing the Vikings stadium on time and within budget.

Stay tuned

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

To date: 47 Solution Papers.

Published MSR Thursday, September 10, 2015
Posted here September 10, 2015, 11:55 pm


September, 03, 2015 #36: North and South Korea not being paid attention too!

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

and online weekly Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder News Online

Thursday, Sept 3, 2015

Pull quote: To test each other is dangerous under any circumstances, but especially when only one side, North Korea, has a nuclear bomb.

ED NOTE: See rest of column in the 2015 Archive.


ow our marines, sailors, army and air force personnel will soon be at pre-World War II levels.

This affects our security and our economy as well. The military has been a great place for job training, with 23 percent of the military African American and others of color. The pending 40,000 troops to be cut means over 9,000 military of color and over 6,000 women will be without jobs and training.

With world turbulence such as terrorism, approval of state and non-state armed military forces, and the unknowns about the proposed Iran treaty, we need to act carefully so as to avoid the kind of diplomacy/negotiation failures that led to the attack on Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1941. Many lives were lost in the next four years of intense combat to restore world order. If we are going to play world policeman, we need to do it from a well-designed doctrine that will keep us out of harm’s way.
Stay tuned.

=====================

http://www.startribune.com/frustration-mounts-as-talks-between-the-rival-koreas-drag-on/322652501/
South Korea turns off propaganda as Koreas reach deal
12:03AM
After marathon talks, rival Koreas reach deal over mine blast and propaganda broadcasts
By HYUNG-JIN KIM and FOSTER KLUG Associated Press AUGUST 25, 2015 — 12:03AM

=====================

http://www.startribune.com/rival-koreas-masters-at-pulling-back-from-the-brink/322664811/
Here's a look at how the rival Koreas have, for decades, mastered pulling back from the brink
By FOSTER KLUG and HYUNG-JIN KIM Associated Press AUGUST 24, 2015 — 6:20PM
SEOUL, South Korea — The Koreas on Tuesday once again proved their mastery at pulling back from the brink — this time with an accord forged in two marathon negotiating sessions over three days.


August, 27, 2015 #35: North and South Korea not being paid attention too!

Article Coming


August, 20, 2015 #34: Hey Tubby, Norwood is gone!Hey Amelia, why Now? Why so much left out?

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

and online weekly Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder News Online

August 20, 2015

Pull quote: Teague is now another poster child for the old saying, loose lips sink ships.

The most recent University of Minnesota racism agenda began April 23, 2012, with the arrival of the notorious Norwood Teague as University athletic director, on a five-year contract. It ended when he was forced to resign, August 7, for sexual harassment charges. In between, on March 25, 2013, he fired Basketball Head Coach Tubby Smith, even though UM reached the NCAA tournament’s 2nd round. Missing in the story: the well known but covered up virulent racism of Teague that the University knew about but did not stop.

His racism was well known by the current president who hired him, to the school he was hired from and in the UM community during his tenure here. The university is trying to cover that up by distracting with the sexual harassment story, but the real story is the racism.

Under the Tarnished Dome: How Notre Dame Betrayed Its Ideals for Football Glory, 1993, covers racism at Notre Dame and the University of Minnesota in the 1980s (see pp. 174-192). See also The Minneapolis Story, chapter 10, “The University of Minnesota: Burying the Truth Losing its Soul: The Case of Luther Darville: Scapegoat” (pp. 159-172).

The negative campaign started when he was 15-1 (recall that Tubby Smith, a hall of fame coach and player, also won a national championship). The Star Tribune reporter, Amelia Rayno, in her stories, helped Teague carry out his Teague Doctrine to get rid of Black coaches and quarterbacks. For more details on Tubby and the UM, and on Teague and Rayno, see my columns discussing the known Teague doctrine of racism and nullification at UM:

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

April 10, 2013: Congratulations, Tubby! Texas Tech hires Tubby Smith while U of M keeps looking. [Includes list of 15 articles on this Tubby "situtation"] .

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

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

As the University and Star Tribune still play these racist game, I still sometimes refer to the paper as the Johannesburg Times.

In her cover-up story about Teague in the Star Tribune, August 10, 2015, Rayno admits she spent time with Teague at bars, parties, cars, clubs, his office, his house, etc. Rayno leaves out the substance of conversations, which we know had to include discussions of Norwood Teague’s absolute disdain for African Americans in positions of responsibility and trust, whether Black coaches or Black quarterbacks. He hurt his own case when his liquored loose lips were heard talking. Teague is now another poster child for the old saying, loose lips sink ships. Loose lips also sink programs.

The University of Minnesota and the Star Tribune choose to suppress facts and truth. Working hand in hand, Norwood Teague and Amelia Rayno made it appear that a successful African American coach was under consideration for the UM when all knew that that Black coach loathed the racism of Teague and would never work for him again. The strategy was used to disarm influential University Black alumni, to keep them quiet.

In those conversations over drinks, at cocktail parties, gatherings in Norwood’s home, etc., there was often much discussion of the Negro problem within the UM athletic program. At some point people will ask UM football coach Jerry Kill about the overt racism of Norwood Teague.
Teague acted as a Caesar, ruling through deceit, pettiness, carelessness, and disrespect, details Ms. Rayno left out of her reporting. The Star Tribune and the university should be ashamed for suppressing the truth by saying “we had no idea this was happening.”

We are not concerned about the consensual rendezvous of the AD and reporter. But we are concerned about their attempt to destroy a coach, to destroy a cordial work environment, and to trash the legacy of the many great Black athletes who have served the University for well over a century.

Stay tuned.

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

To date: 47 Solution Papers.

Published MSR Thursday, August 20, 2015
Posted here September 4, 2015, 2:18 am


August, 13, 2015 #33: Remember The Boys of Summer:  The 1960s Twins:  A Period of Sports and Civil Rights Success

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

August 13, 2015

The 50th Anniversary Celebration of the Minnesota Twins winning the 1965 American League championship was held at the August 1st game.   I was excited to attend.  Tony Oliva (born Pedro Oliva, in Cuba), gave the history, referencing great players of the 1960s, some in attendance, some having passed, both players of color (Rod Carew, Mudcat Grant, Earl Batty, Camilo Pascual, Zoilo Versalles), and white (Jim Katt, Bob Alison, Harmon Killebrew). 

I mention color so we don’t forget the significance of race integration in sports:  it was still relatively new.  We won’t forget what Tony Oliva said nor forget the challenge he set before the 2015 players to win.

Remember:  the 60s decade was great for sports and civil rights in Minneapolis.  We repeat past mistakes and lose the future when we don’t retain the lessons of the past.

Remember:  1960-61:  the Minnesota Gophers won the National Championship and the Rose Bowl:  Sandy Stephens, Judge Dickson, Bill Munsey, Bobby Bell and Carl Eller.

Remember:  1964-65:  winning Gopher Basketball teams:  Lou Hudson and Archie Clark

Remember:  the Minnesota swagger, 1965, when the 1965 baseball season began.  

Remember:  professional and collegiate players of color bringing their presence and inspiration to African American communities (schools, community centers, churches, play grounds) of the Twin Cities.

Remember:  great optimistic voices of civil rights, especially Cecil Newman and this newspaper, and civil rights legend, Nellie Stone Johnson, DFL co-founder, member of the Democratic Central Committee, and first African American elected to office in Minneapolis.

Remember!  Tony caused me to reflect on what we have retained/remembered about the difference between then and now in the African American community and the work still to do.   We used to be about tasking and committing ourselves to success, be it in the Twin Cities, Duluth, Fergus Falls, etc.  There was a sense of achievement.  Now, 50 years later, we see we have lost community pride, spirit, inventiveness, and achieving.

Remember:  the great discussions in 1965 about baseball and civil rights took place side by side in barber shops, churches, businesses, offices, homes, and the various other gathering places of African Americans, sowing optimism regarding the future. 

Remember:  there were no outbreaks of murders and mayhem.  Black folks were too busy concentrating on the positive things of life, combining talking about the Twins and Gophers along with discussing the new Civil Rights legislation to enable African Americans to finally be able to take their rightful place at the tables of opportunity and success, after centuries of denying African Americans their opportunity for inclusion

Remember:  professional and collegiate teams of the 1960s were a significantly integral part of Twin Cities’ history, providing a sense of hope for civil rights success. Too many today don’t know the significance of that 60’s decade that brought pride, dignity and inspiration to succeed to the African American community, qualities missing today.

Forgetting and stopping action began 25 years ago.  Too much has been allowed to slip away, doing so in the name of progress for others but not for us, as we watch Black communities regressing regarding education, jobs, housing, health care, public safety, pride and tradition.

Today we are at the bottom in state rankings of education, employment, and economic development, and at the bottom of the rankings in health care and political implementation.  We excel only in penitentiary populations (the largest percentage by race). 

We fondly remember the Boys of Summer 1965, professionals and collegiate, and the great men and women of color who tended to make a difference and who wanted to enable the Twin Cities to become a racial paradise in America.
                                                                                                                                               
Stay tuned.

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

To date: 47 Solution Papers.

Published MSR Thursday, August 13, 2015
Posted here August 22, 2015, 11:29 am


August, 06, 2015 #32: Justice Alan Page: a man of vision and success. Associate Supreme Court justice retires August 7, 2015.

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

and online weekly Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder News Online

August 6, 2015

Justice Alan Page has been a life-long success model (high school star athlete, university all star defensive end and consensus All-America at Notre Dame, NFL first-round draft pick, Vikings All Pro defensive tackle, MVP, NFL Hall of Fame).

Nonetheless, as a young man, Alan Page wanted to be an attorney and be on the state Supreme Court. He earned his law degree while playing for the Vikings.

As he stated in 2005, "The lessons that I learned from professional football were many: hard work, discipline, focus, the ability to analyze a problem and work through it. To accept that you don't always win and when you do win that doesn't change who you are."

Throughout his life, Justice Page has served as a role model for young men and women, demonstrating that education matters, as it leads to jobs and careers for those who follow that path. I still remember a wonderful luncheon meeting at the Riverview Supper Club with then-Governor Rudy Perpich, Nellie Stone Johnson (DFL co-founder), Elmer Childress (master electrician, labor leader, and the only African American to serve as commissioner of MN Veterans Affairs), and Leon Rankin (master electrician, contractor, community advocate, most effective labor movement organizer, and devoted family man).

The purpose of the luncheon was to recommend four African American attorneys to be considered for appointment to Minnesota courts. The four outstanding African Americans we recommended to Governor Perpich all went on to make their mark as judges: Michael Davis, Pam Alexander, Lejune Lang, and Alan Page. Three were later appointed to the Hennepin County District court bench. Alan Page later joined the Minnesota Attorney General’s office.

As Insight News wrote, February 19, 2015we formed “a highly effective advocacy and civic change movement,” being “civil rights freedom fighters [who] formed the core leadership group of the legendary Minneapolis Urban League Board of Directors” that “in the mid-1970s, gave rise to the MUL national reputation as audacious, relentless, progressive and effective.” When will we get a group like that in Minneapolis for the 21st century?

Alan Page translated the intelligence, hard work, speed and quickness with which he played football to the law. When Alan Page let it be known in 1992 that he sought a seat on the MN Supreme Court, new Govenor Arne Carlson tried to block him, even though he had the support of former Governor Perpich and a significant segment of the African American and White communities. Alan Page challenged the block tried by Governor Carlson, taking on the established order just as he did with so many running backs and quarterbacks. And, in Thurgood Marshall style, he tackled the block.

He won. History was made. He became the first and, so far, only African American to sit on Minnesota’s high court.

We now take the opportunity to thank Justice Alan Page for his humanity, for his commitment to law and justice, and to thank those four African Americans and the governor of the state of Minnesota who saw the value and importance of recommending and supporting Judges Davis, Alexander, Lang, and Page.

This column’s goal and commitment is to make sure history is preserved as is the success of the African American community in championing those who clearly have made a difference while also showing that not just Whites can make it to high positions. Justice Page will continue in retirement to pursue making Minnesota a better place to live and matter.
Thanks Judge Page for a job well done, enabling us to pursue focus, dignity, integrity and humanity.

Stay tuned.

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

To date: 47 Solution Papers.

Published MSR Thursday, August 6, 2015
Posted here August 6, 2015, 9:55 am


July, 30, 2015 #31: Shootings in Charleston, South Carolina and Chattanooga, Tennessee. What was the difference?

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

and online weekly Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder News Online

July 30, 2015

Two more tragic shooting events have rocked the United States.  One was on June 17, in Charleston, South Carolina, where 9 Blacks were shot and killed in an AME church, by a young white man. The second, July 16,  was in  Chattanooga, Tennessee, where 5 whites were shot and killed by a young Muslim man, at two military recruiting stations.  This column will review the eerily and significantly different ways the shooting of whites was handled contrasted to how the shooting of blacks was handled.

In Charleston, South Carolina, the 21 year old killer, Dylan Roof, survived,.  He is a self-described white supremacist.  As Black Americans, we have difficulty accepting this white supremacist not being labeled a domestic terrorist, regardless of whether he was a lone wolf or with others.  It wasn’t until President Obama delivered his eulogy for Rev Pickney, that commentators began to talk about race and domestic terror.

In Chatanooga, Tennessee, the  killer of 5 whites, Mohammad Youssef Abdulazeez, is a naturalized citizen.  The young man, a 24 year old Muslim, was was killed at the scene. Lead headlines in newspapers across America were about Federal Investigators digging deeply into the travel, internet presence and family history of Abdulazeez.   They even took a handcuffed woman out of the Abdulazeez home.  She was not identified, leaving the inference that she was a co-conspirator. 

We still want to know why the same scrutiny wasn’t given to the background and associates of the white shooter of whites in Charleston?  Why weren’t Root’s parents put on public display in Charleston?  Why wasn’t any of Root’s associates taken in handcuffs? Little has been heard about them and their affiliations and relationships. 

A great deal of information has been reported about the time Abdulazeez spent in Jordan over the last year.  His father was a person of interest in the 1990s, who gave money to Muslim charities overseas.  Regardless of the media, the script for international terror with international connections is now in place.

Clearly:  a double standard.

Mr. Root has been presented as an American born terrorist who, other than plagiarizing a Manifesto taken off the web site of one of the most dangerous neo-nazi white supremacist groups in the United States, has been identified as a man with no history with extremist groups in the United States.

Mr. Abdulazeez, who, for a period of ten days in the month prior to his attacks on the military recruitment centers, found employment in a nuclear facility.  That’s kind of scary.   The federal agencies investigating the deaths in Chatanooga, Tennessee have left no rock unturned nor left any doors unopened.  Their investigation has been thorough and intense, as it should be.  But in South Carolina, by contrast, my sense, as a Black American, is that the authorities are just going through the motions, less thorough, less intense. 

Our perception of their behavior, whether correct or not, influences our subsequent interpretations.   The difference in handling these cases has created the sense and feeling in the Black community that there is an imbalance in the perceived importance of Black Americans on one hand and white Americans on the other.   Of course, all are equally important to their families and loved ones, yet seemingly not as important beyond our communities.

In a couple of months, there will be a very detailed report on the investigation that took place regarding the carnage in Chatanooga, Tennessee.

In the case of Charleston, South Carolina, there will be no such due diligence, as it appears that book has been closed.  So, once again, it will be business as usual.

Stay tuned.

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

To date: 47 Solution Papers.

Published MSR Thursday, July 30, 2015
Posted here July 31, 2015, 9:37 am


July, 23, 2015 #30: Sheriff and Black clergy come together. 2015: Already a bloody, heartbreaking year of shootings in Minneapolis

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

and online weekly Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder News Online

July 23, 2015

Hennepin County Sheriff Richard W. Stanek has continually expressed his concern about the violence besieging the African American community. Bishop Richard D. Howell, Jr.. is recognized for his dedication and leadership in service to justice in Hennepin County.

Bishop Howell opened his sanctuary, Shiloh Temple International Ministries church, on July 13th for a crucial 90-minute community meeting attended by senior members of Black clergy, civil rights advocates, and members of Sheriff Stanek’s Community Engagement Committee. A very deep and productive dialogue emerged that will be ongoing.

Thus, Sheriff Stanek and Bishop Howell do more than just give lip service. Bishop Howell’s Shiloh sanctuary is a very valuable resource for humanitarian commitment to the preservation of life to benefit all communities.

The violence driven by guns in pursuit of drugs involves us all, and has pushed many to the brink of absolute fear. In the July 13 meeting, strong Black ecumenical voices, old and new, stood up to say they were prepared to take up the challenge, including clergy who have not sought publicity before.

Although MPD was not present officially, it is not because of any riff; it is because the sheriff is extremely concerned about the intelligence information he is receiving.

Enough is enough. Black clergy at the meeting were clear. Now is the time to absolutely declare that Black lives matter at every level of a functioning society/ We should start by reflecting on how to end shooting each other, for, as Andy Young reminds us, 93 percent of Blacks killed are killed by other Blacks.

Not everyone is going to be satisfied or happy that Sheriff Stanek and Chief Harteau are asking for assistance, including ideas and solutions from the community, not just established career organizations (we have 47 Solution Papers on our website). The chief will be back in the country by the time this column is printed. The Sheriff has made a commitment, working closely with Bishop Howell, to approach the governor, the state’s attorney, and the head of the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, and others, in a committed action to create solutions.

The insights brought to the discussion were crucial to the message that there is a real willingness to put into effect a plan that will significantly reduce violence in the city and the county. We need to enable young people to see more than hopelessness. We are proportionately at the level of Chicago.

The African American ministers who met with Sheriff Stanek, through the encouragement of Bishop Howell, agreed that enough is enough, and that all lives must matter in all circumstances and conditions, Black and White. These men and women are of good intentions. They have knowledge of the devastation suffocating the African American community. They have indicated their readiness to work tirelessly to address issues of employment, housing and education.

Can they succeed in the task? Yes, if we all work together to make it happen.

At the July 13 meeting at Shiloh church the signal was sent that all who were there are prepared to do all that is humanly possible to protect the future of the Black and White communities, and particularly those who are our future, the young people of our communities. May God give us the strength to turn back the tide that threatens our future and the future of our youth.

We must not fail again. Failure will have severe consequences on us and our future. Pray for strength to turn hope into success for this newly forming alliance.

Stay tuned.

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

To date: 47 Solution Papers.

Published MSR Thursday, July 23, 2015
Posted here July 23, 2015, 6:18 pm


July, 16, 2015 #29: When is enough enough? Eight shot within one hour on 4th of July.

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

and online weekly Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder News Online

July 16, 2015

Pull quote: We need to do everything possible to save the future of our children and ourselves.

When is enough enough?

Are we to be like Chicago, with 10 homicides over the Fourth? And what about the 11-year-old African American shot to death on his grandmother’s porch in El Dorado, Arkansas, or the seven-year-old African American child shot and killed walking with his father in Chicago, IL, or the eight African Americans gunned down in a span of one hour and 15 minutes in the heart of downtown Minneapolis? Are we to be a self-besieged community?

Across the country, people are asking Black and White leaders why more reports and slogans without plans that are then put into action? Nellie Stone Johnson gave us the plan: education and training, then jobs, then housing, and then marriage and kids. We have listed 47 solution papers on our website that often also refer to others. Clearly Black and White leaders know what to do. Instead they keep the status quo to keep their jobs.

Pain and heartache is what comes to a community determined to bring about its own demise. In a word: genocide. All we know is that leaders paid to come up with “solutions” are well compensated and rewarded as long as solutions are not enacted and the status quo is kept, whether government, nonprofit, or corporate.

Much of our pain, despair and hopelessness we impose upon ourselves. Too many of our young men in America are in prisons or are dying on the streets or are being pushed away from responsibility. Too many of our young women feel the pain observing our fall from grace. Both our young men and women are asking “Do I have a future?”

Too many give into a feeling that there are no answers. Too many have a clouded vision of our future and our dreams of existence. Why? Where is the pride of the 1960s, the pride of Martin Luther King, Jr.? We are an inventive people. We are a people with a great spirit, a great humanity, a great compassion. But when the casualty figures come in, be they from Chicago, El Dorado, AK, Los Angeles or Minneapolis, it causes doubt in the minds of Black America, especially in regards to Black youth.

Leading the doubt: Black leaders.

History shows that expecting others to devise survival plans means waiting forever.

We need to do our part in taking responsibility for our behavior and neighborhoods.

We can start by establishing working relations and partnerships with policy makers, educators and employers.

We must do it with a sense of urgency, for the longer we wait the harder it will be. Not doing so is crazy, senseless, and shows a lack of purpose.

Without purpose there can be no positive future.

Not to do so is a form of cultural and racial suicide.

We need to exert our strength and exercise our responsibilities and obligations to our sons and daughters. We need to do everything possible to save the future of our children and ourselves.
As Andrew Young pointed out two weeks ago in regards to Black homicides, “93 percent [of] Black people are killed by other Black people.” Young said, “Black lives matter. Let us start believing that we matter.”

Minneapolis leaders and readers: when will Black lives matter to you? Young called for “Unity and healing,” as embraced by the Charleston community in the aftermath of the shooting at Mother Emmanuel AME church (see last week’s column). When will you call for unity and healing?
The great leaders of our past knew this. Leaders and led need to step up. Will leaders and led exercise courage, vision, and foresight? God help us as a people if we do nothing. Let’s not let doing nothing be the final report of contemporary Black America and its leaders.

Stay tuned.

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

To date: 47 Solution Papers.

Published MSR Thursday, July 16, 2015,
Posted here Friday, July 17, 2015, at 9:25 a.m.


July, 09, 2015 #28: Unanswered questions in Charleston, SC. Dylan Roof: the disappearing person of interest.

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

and online weekly Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder News Online

July 9, 2015

    “… “…to serve. It is at times a hard choice to make but those hard choices yield great rewards.”
    “… “…— Slain Pastor and SC State Senator Clementa Pinckney

Pull quote: Targeting Pastor Pinckney was part of a well-planned conspiracy.

Last week I promised to continue to dig into what has seemingly become a universal attempt to make Dylan Roof a “lone wolf” assassin, shooting and killing nine people June 17, 2015, at the Mother Emmanuel AME church in Charleston, SC, in his attempt to create racial mayhem all by himself. Notice the silence about the fact that this was not Mr. Roof’s first time at the church. Roof had been conducting a very sophisticated surveillance of the pastor and the church, Pastor and SC State Senator Clementa Pinckney.

Young Roof knew both the inside and outside of the church’s layout. Roof also followed Rev. Pinckney from the State Capital in Columbia, SC to his home and church in Charleston, SC, a drive that takes a little over two hours.

We reported in last week’s column that the Southern Poverty Law Center in Birmingham, Alabama had reviewed Roof’s manifesto and determined — using plagiarism detection software — he copied a lot from a White supremacy web site. In other words, there were co-conspirators assisting him in this heinous act of assassinating one of the most beloved political and religious leaders in South Carolina and eight of his parishioners during their Bible study.

We also learned much by tracing Roof’s escape attempt from Charleston SC into North Carolina. Fleeing on Interstate Highway 26 towards Columbia, SC, and then heading north on Interstate 77, toward Charlotte, NC. Then west on to State Highway 74, which took him towards Shelby, NC, where he was apprehended.

What was it in that direction that he felt would provide him with sanctuary and shelter? Was it to continue along State Highways 74 and 64, and then turn north onto Routes 25 and 70, going through Ashville, NC, towards a White supremacy camp located between the small towns of Marshall and Mars Hill, North Carolina?

The camp, between Interstate 26 and North Carolina State Highways 25, 70 and Route 213, is in a region that is a hot bed of White extremist terrorist activity in that part of North Carolina. We know the problem is not over because of six Black Churches being burned in the South since the Charleston Massacre.

But it was the mistake 14 hours before his apprehension that supports our claim:  officials and media already talking about his upcoming 21st birthday.  Targeting Pastor Pinckney was part of a well-planned conspiracy.

The system must now make disappear the fact that there was a conspiracy to assassinate a leading Black political leader in South Carolina. Hence the insistence by state and federal authority that Mr. Roof acted alone and without assistance.

This assassination is a reminder of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., in Tennessee, and the similarities with the escape and apprehension of King’s assassin, James Earl Ray, as he attempted to board a flight to South Africa from London’s Heathrow International Airport.

It’s almost as if the same individuals or agencies planned both of these actions, almost 50 years apart. Is that a coincidence? There is betting in some quarters that Mr. Roof, in the tradition of Jack Ruby, will not survive to stand trial.

I hope that that is not true, because justice must still be served, and the racial stability of our nation depends upon all the facts being known. Justice will not be served if those who planned the carnage of racial hatred are allowed to go unidentified.
God bless America.

Stay tuned.

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

To date: 47 Solution Papers.

Published MSR Thursday, July 9, 2015,
Posted here Friday, July 10, 2015, at 1:25 a.m. of the 11th.


July, 02, 2015 #27: Well Planned Execution in Charleston, South Carolina. One of America’s Most Respected Black Leaders: target?

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

and online weekly Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder News Online

July 2, 201

The shooting of 9 Blacks in the historic Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME), Wednesday, June 17, in Charleston, South Carolina, was horrific.  The 21 year-old mentally disturbed white man, terrorist Dylann Roof, identifies himself as one who hates and fears Blacks.  Blacks responded with the politics of love, signaling a great unintended consequence that few like Roof expected:  the  beginning of the end of love for the Old Confederacy.

The cold, calculating execution of the nine victims, between the ages of 26 and 87, caught America’s and the world’s attention.  Conservative and liberal politicians alike are finally taking a close look at the negative consequences of negative views on race relations, attitudes, and policies. 

Charleston, famous for its helpful citizens, learned from Ferguson and Baltimore.  Families / friends of the victims led the nation with the first step to bridge the understanding gap between blacks and whites, being heroes responding with Martin Luther King, Jr’s non-violence peace and forgiveness strategy.  Who knows more about the “masters” and “their plantations?” 

Reflecting their church’s teaching, they disavowed violence, and offered forgiveness and reconciliation.  In the 1860s, whites fought.  Today, Blacks are offering love, forgiveness and reconciliation.  This model of love and forgiveness spread:  the Republican governor of South Carolina proposed furling the Confederate Battle Flag at the state capital.  Wal-Mart and Boeing offered immediate support, as did an array of profit and non-profit organizations.

Both Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King, Jr., in their own time, said economics would end “the issue” in the South.  That has also been our theme since this column started in 2003 (see our first solution paper, The Negative Economics of Racism), which is why we continually repeat Nellie Stone Johnson’s key to reconciliation, her mantra of “no education, no jobs, no housing.”

This reminds us of South Africa’s Archbishop Desmond Tutu's Ubuntu Theology of Reconciliation (our Solution Paper #18), as well as the title of a book that influenced South Africa to end Apartheid:  The Passing Summer:  A South African's Response to White Fear, Black Anger, and the Politics of Love. 

That still leaves those few who think like Mr. Roof and those who get out of thinking by saying he acted as a “lone wolf.”  Both are unhealthy and naïve views. 

A question so far not asked by others:   was the 41 year-old pastor of the church, State Senator Clementa Pinckney, the intended target?  We think so.  Roof waited an hour for Pastor Pinckney to join the group, which is when Roof then opened fire.  This very real question of co-conspirators must be examined. 

The white hero is the tenacious female florist outside of Shelby, North Carolina, who’s actions enabled police to apprehend Mr. Roof.

It has already been reported, using plagiarism detection software, that much of his 2,000 word Manifesto and many of its philosophical points, were copied from a neo-Nazi web site.  Again:  who helped this ninth grade dropout put together his manifesto? 

A majority of White and Black citizens joined to call for an end to displaying the symbols and substance of the Old Confederacy and its prejudice, discrimination, and historic treason, symbols that have supported Black churches being bombed, burned and shot into by hateful white terrorist individuals and groups rallying under these symbols. 

Let’s pray for the nine souls lost.  Let’s not forget the hundreds of thousands lost since the time we were first brought to these shores.  Let’s pray for the future of the sons and daughters of the African.   Let’s pray for the violated sanctuaries turned into killing fields, and stop taking them for granted.

Stay tuned. 

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

To date: 47 Solution Papers.

Published MSR Thursday, July 2, 2015
Posted here Sunday, July 5, 2015, 11:59 p.m.


Permission is granted to reproduce The Minneapolis Story columns, blog entires and solution papers. Please cite the Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder and www.TheMinneapolisStory.com for the columns. Please cite www.TheMinneapolisStory.com for blog entries and solution papers.

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