KFAI-FM: WAVE Project – “Is a Spoonful of Integration enough for the rest of us?” Sunday, February 14, 2010 at 6 p.m.
“By listening and watching local media, you would think that Valentines Day was the only event going on in the month of February. With CNN’s special, featuring Soledad O’Brien’s “Black in America 2,” – a watered down version of what it’s like to be Black America is skewed for a White audience, it misses the mark at every turn. The issues for those who are forward thinkers are jobs, economic development and education. Tune in KFAI on Sunday for the real State of the Union about Black America.”
Minneapolis, MN Feb. 12 / IBNN/ — Tune in Sunday, February 14, 2010 to KFAI-FM Radio at 90.3FM (Minneapolis) & 106.7 (St. Paul), 6 p.m.-7 p.m. to KFAI’s Wave Project. This program will feature Springboard Economic Development Corporation’s CEO Lennie Chism; Don Allen, the editor and chief of The Independent Business News Network and USA Radical Black with along with Kelechi Jaavaid, better known as KJ the comedian, will be live on KFAI to discuss the topic “ Is a Spoonful of Integration enough for the rest of us? That is the remaining 37 Million African Americans in the United States.”
You can also tune in nationally by going to www.kfai.org for the live streaming broadcast.
On Sunday February 14, 2010, from 6-7 p.m. KFAI Radio 90.3 FM (Minneapolis) and 106.7 (St. Paul) will air an exclusive segment on race relations and generational progress produced by Lennie Chism, Executive Director of Springboard Economic Development Corporation. Chism’s program, titled A Spoonful of Integration is Not Enough for the Rest of Us explores the Civil Rights Movement through music pinpointing cultural anthems such as “We Shall Overcome” to Tupac’s “Ghetto Gospel” as indications of change.
Chism says, “My motivation was to get people to critically look at the 1947 integration of baseball and begin to ask whether integration helped. I wanted to show how integration was not as successful as people thought. Thanks to integration, The Negro League was completely dismantled by 1963, blacks went from running leagues and teams to just being players. Jobs and industry were lost because of integration for blacks. Hence, A Spoonful of Integration is Not Enough for the Rest of Us,” Chism explains. Chism adds, “However when you look at the music industry, that has been dominated by African-Americans for years, with absolutely no desire to integrate, there are countless success stories, hip-hop culture did not bow down, sell out nor attempt to assimilate.”
Chism believes the struggle for Civil Rights continues in the current day hip-hop movement. “I chose to end the segment with Tupac because he is one of the greatest street lobbyists ever,” explains Chism. “He spoke of another culture that the establishment would want to see removed. But in reality that culture became an industry that is creating jobs and a new wealthy class of African-Americans.”
Chism hopes multiple generations tune in for the special program, special guests include Donald Allen editor in chief of two international read controversial blogs and Kelechi Jaavid, local comedian to lighten the air.
Donald Allen, a blogger, Republican and outspoken critic of Minneapolis’ political processes and non-profit watchdog as it relates to communities of color and the delivery of services states, “This is an opportunity to mention names, agencies and politicians who for the most part are more celebrity-based then actually making sure the community is healed. This is an opportunity to let America know that agencies like the Minnesota Department of Transportation, Minneapolis Urban League and the NAACP have lost their mojo.”
Tune in on Sunday, the revolution continues.
Part 4: Affirmative Action is no “Action Jackson” at MnDOT
By Donald W.R. Allen,II – Editor in Chief/IBNN and USA Radical Black
Last week at MnDOT and internal email was sent to select employees at MnDOT regarding the recent stories posted on IBNN.
The email read: (Unedited):
From: Prescott, Mary (DOT)
Sent: Wednesday, January 06, 2010 10:47 AM
Re: Part 3 – Who signs off on 0% goals and 0% goals achieved at MnDOT?
FYI for internal use only – this will be discussed at the DBE and Workforce Development Collaborative Group meeting on Friday. Specifically, hopefully, 1) Lennie Chism bringing Donny Allen a newsperson who seemed only there looking for a story and he did not state that this is why he was there; and 2) it was agreed to “no surprises” at the last meeting and this has been the fourth surprise from Mr. Chism; ground roles for media and the hard work going forth with all the project teams.
Note: The email above is just another example of bigotry at MnDOT for the acting civil rights director to single out two Black men, asking questions about a 17 year trend of failure in an attempt to address, solve and recommend a plan of action. This top-of-mind attention is not wanted at MnDOT, hence, 1% in federally funded contracts to minority contractors.
The Minnesota Department of Transportation employee base is a “protected class” of the government workforce. They have the “Cadillac” of benefits that aren’t affected by the current economic status of non-government working-class Minnesotans. Read more
Minneapolis Urban League lays off more critical employees – the campaign continues…Donny Allen for President/CEO of the Minneapolis Urban League
“Cheryl Morgan-Spencer and I never saw eye-to-eye. But Ms. Spencer had her own way of doing things. She was a critical and important part of the Minneapolis Urban Leagues governmental engagement piece. Ms. Morgan-Spencer has established a releationship with the folks at the State Capitial that R.Scott Gray and the current board will never achieve.”
By Donald W. R. Allen,II – Editor in Chief/IBNN and USA Radical Black
Minneapolis, MN (IBNNNEWS)…On Friday, December 11, 2009 it was reported that the Minneapolis Urban League had laid off 3 more employees. IBNN wishes them the best and asks them to hold on to their dreams. Let’s do the math. The MUL Board of Directors cannot hold on to the real estate at the corner of Penn and Plymouth Avenue North with a “skeleton crew” inside the building.
Earlier this year, the Minneapolis Urban League hosted a community forum with the two finalists for the position of President/CEO of the Minneapolis Urban League. R. Scott Gray and Pamela Coaxum (Tucker) were seated at the long table in front of community members.
Insight News editor in chief and MUL board member Al McFarlane moderated the forum, asking participants to write questions on an index card to be read by Mr. McFarlane to the candidates. A funny thing happened to the cards on the way to the podium – “they didn’t get read.”
What I’m trying to say, if some of the questions that were written down were asked, it wouldn’t have mattered, R. Scott Gray and the usual suspects in north Minneapolis had already decided that Gray would be the new President of the Minneapolis Urban League.
Former Minneapolis Urban League board member Roxanne Givens, who was removed from the MUL board of directors in a banana republic process, consistently asked the MUL board to follow bylaws, which for the most part fell on deaf ears. Read about Ms. Givens in the stories: “Minneapolis Urban League Klan removes Roxanne Givens from Board” -June 17, 2009 and “National Urban League maintains silence in governance”-June 18, 2009.
R. Scott Gray was already tainted from his dealings with the Stairstep Foundation and Alfred Babington-Johnson. Johnson, who was invited by Gray to the Madison Urban League for a groundbreaking ceremony where he was tapped as the “keynote speaker” raised eyes of community stakeholders and finalist Pamela Coaxum.
Coaxum, saw the writing on the wall and on April 27, 2009, withdrew her name from consideration. Read the full story here.
While R.Scott Gray talked about “Leveraging the MUL property for funding,” it was apparent that this dude had no clue about business, real estate or the Helmsley Rule-Harry B. Helmsley (March 4, 1909 – January 4, 1997) was a real estate mogul who built a company that became one of the biggest property holders in the United States who always kept one property free and clear of debt.
My point is, the Minneapolis Urban League employees and the community have suffered enough at the hand of the organizations management and board of directors.
While the community suffers, the board sits passively, doing nothing rather than undertaking a fundamental re-structuring and getting down to business, which would allow it to fulfill its mission.
My vision for the Minneapolis Urban League is fueled by my passion and enthusiasm for the organization and the community it was established to serve. In addition to developing new funding streams, we need to look to community engagement, partnering with other established, successful organizations, and focusing on a host of other issues that I discuss in my 3-year plan to reorganize and revitalize the MUL.
Donny Allen for President/CEO of the Minneapolis Urban League (MUL)-My solution is the best solution!
I have been one of the most outspoken critics of the Minneapolis Urban League since 2007 . Unfortunately, my predictions about the fledgling social service agency have come to pass. Rather than watching this vital agency go under, this is my solution. My goals are simple: Re-hiring of all laid off staff; a re-structuring of departments and community engagement; raising $200 Million for the agency in 2010-2011. The Minneapolis Urban League must develop community benefits agreements with organizations that come into Minneapolis to build and create business entities.
Written by Donald W.R. Allen, II – Editor in Chief/IBNN
I have no business ties to the usual suspects in North Minneapolis – but what I do have is unlimited knowledge about non-profits, how they work and over 30 years of experience in marketing and public relations. In other words, I am the best chance that the Minneapolis Urban League has to rise above mediocrity.
Under my leadership, in two years the Minneapolis Urban League will have its own Credit Union; Employment Agency; and a Foundation to assist individuals in “true” business ventures, with professionals overseeing the MUL’s investments. NO MORE MONEY CRISIS.
The MUL will never again have to depend on one major funding source. I promise this to the community.
The Minneapolis Urban League has become a shell of an agency, providing fewer services and lacking direction. Without immediate restructuring, the MUL will be doomed to catastrophic failure.
As a member in good standing of the MUL, I offer a plan of action to bring the agency back to the days when it was a force to be reckoned with.
My plan consists of a one-year phased marketing plan, which will bring in $1 million dollars in cash donation in the first three months after I am hired.
This is about the process of business.
I believe, “Sound business principals can be applied to the Minneapolis Urban League while hiring staff that was cut due to less-than-professional budgeting and fund-raising planning and/or execution.” I will work closely with the development staff and existing programs by providing leadership and direction never before attained by the Minneapolis Urban League. If the St. Louis Urban League can capture $15 million dollars in Stimulus money, the MUL can do the same thing. It’s all about relationships.
I was asked, “What about the all articles you posted on IBNN about the Minneapolis Urban League? How is it that you now want to lead the organization you have so harshly criticized?
My reply is simple, “I have kept my eye on the Minneapolis Urban League because of my belief in the importance of its mission. I remember when the MUL was a staunch advocate for civil rights and economic development. I have watched the Urban League falter with dismay, knowing that this agency can do much better, and the citizens of the community desperately need it to do better.”
I offer a way forward.
This can only be a win-win situation for the Minneapolis Urban League.
Congressman Ellison – “Where are you?” National Urban League Writes National Leaders on Behalf of 27 Million Underemployed Americans!
Today at 11:35 a.m. on Facebook, the National Urban League delivered the following message:
The below letter outlining National Urban League’s plan for putting Americans back to work was sent to the following National Leaders:
Mr. Lawrence Summers, Director, National Economic Council
Honorable Harry Reid, Senate Majority Leader, U.S. Senate
Honorable Nancy Pelosi, Speaker, U.S. House of Representatives
Honorable Barbara Lee, Chair, Congressional Black Caucus, U.S. House of Representatives
November 24, 2009
Dear National Leaders,
I am writing to you on behalf of the over 27 million underemployed Americans in desperate need of full-time employment. This includes not only the 
unemployed, but also the marginally attached and those working part-time for economic reasons, all of whom are struggling to make ends meet during these difficult economic times. As you are well aware, the news that in October, the national unemployment rate exceeded ten percent for the first time since the early 1980s was a sobering wake-up for the leadership of this country even to the point of soliciting a call for a Jobs Summit to be held after the Thanksgiving holiday. While I applaud the Administration for publicly acknowledging the gravity of our nation’s employment situation, I would add that double-digit unemployment has been a reality for communities of color since last summer –for African Americans since August, 2008 and for Latinos since February, 2009.
As President and CEO of the National Urban League, the nation’s oldest and largest community-based movement devoted to empowering African Americans to enter the economic and social mainstream, I have firsthand knowledge of the tremendous obstacles these families have been facing, not just since national unemployment reached 10.2% in October, but for over a year now. In fact, demand for workforce development, business development and housing counseling services through the Urban League’s more than 100 affiliates located in 35 cities and the District of Columbia increased by 74 percent between 2006 and 2008. Our local affiliates are on the front lines of this jobs crisis and witness the devastating impact it is having on the individuals and families that walk through their doors. In response, the National Urban League went on record last fall drawing attention to the deepening unemployment crisis in urban America and calling for a second stimulus plan that would invest directly in job creation and training for the very communities we interact with and serve every day.
It is now a year later, and I am again calling on our nation’s leaders to invest in a long overdue plan for putting urban America back to work that is targeted, temporary and timely. The National Urban League’s Plan for Putting Americans Back to Work meets these criteria. Targeted because it provides solutions for communities with the highest rates of unemployment and the long-term unemployed who often face the greatest barriers to getting a job the longer they are without one. Temporary in that the recommended investments require less than a three year commitment. Timely because the bulk of the plan involves direct job creation as a means of bringing recovery to those most in need more quickly.
Most economists agree that the pace of recovery will be slow. Yet, the individuals to which this plan is targeted are often the last to experience the effects of even a more rapid economic recovery. Therefore, the National Urban League’s Plan for Putting Americans Back to Work is a comprehensive six-point plan to make a direct investment of $168 billion over 2 years to address the most urgent needs of American families in economic crisis by investing in direct job creation, job training for the chronically unemployed, greater access to credit for small businesses and additional counseling relief for those caught in the backlog of the foreclosure process. The plan also proposes tax incentives for clean energy equipment manufacturers who employ individuals in the targeted communities. The plan proposes to do these things in the following ways:
1. Fund Direct Job Creation by offering financial support to cities, counties, states, universities, community colleges and non-profit community based organizations to hire the personnel necessary to provide critical services in communities across the nation. Eligibility for support will be based on local unemployment rates with a focus on the long-term unemployed. At least twice in American history, the government has responded to high rates of unemployment with investments in direct job creation – the 1935 Works Progress Administration, when nearly one-fourth of the labor force was out of work, and the Emergency Jobs and Unemployment Assistance Act of 1974, which established Title VI of CETA as a temporary countercyclical employment program at a time when unemployment was quickly approaching 9 percent. We propose an investment of $150 billion to create 3 million jobs, a number that represents only half of the current unemployed with a high school diploma or less.
2. Expand and Expedite the Small Business Administration’s Community Express Loan Program through a reduction of the interest rate to 1 percent targeted for those businesses located in areas where the local unemployment rate exceeds the state average. A ten-fold expansion of the program (from $1 billion to $10 billion) should make credit available to an additional 50,000 small businesses nationwide.
3. Create Green Empowerment Zones in areas where at least 50 percent of the population has an unemployment rate that is higher than the state average. Manufacturers of solar panels and wind turbines that open plants in high unemployment areas will, for a period of three years, be eligible for a zero federal income tax rate and a zero capital gains tax under the condition that they hire and retain, for a minimum of three years, at least half of their workforce from the local area.
4. Expand the Hiring of Housing Counselors Nationwide by investing $500 million to fund housing counseling agencies nationwide to help delinquent borrowers work with their loan servicers to secure more affordable mortgages. Over the past 18 months more than $400 million in federal funds have been invested by the Administration to help mitigate the mortgage crisis through housing counseling and, according to a recent report by the Urban Institute, borrowers facing foreclosure are 60% more likely to hold onto their homes if they receive counseling and receive loan modifications with average monthly payments $454 lower than those who did not see counselors.
5. Expand the Youth Summer Jobs Program for 2010 by investing $5-7 billion to employ 5 million teens. While the unemployment rate for African-American youth is over 40 percent, the employment population ratio makes clearer the desperate situation faced by many urban youth. Since the late 1990s, this number has declined from a high of 33 percent down to 15 percent, and labor force participation for this group is now at a record low of 26 percent. A critical factor in eliminating racial and socio-economic disparities in unemployment is providing a solid foundation upon which African American youth can build positive future labor market expectations and experiences.
6. Create 100 Urban Jobs Academies to Implement an Expansion of the Urban Youth Empowerment Program (UYEP) to employ and train the chronically unemployed. UYEP, a four year demonstration project created in partnership with the U.S. Department of Labor in 2004, is a youth career preparation initiative designed for at-risk, out-of-school, and adjudicated youth and young adults between the ages of 18 and 24. With 27 Urban League affiliate sites and a total of $29.3 million, the program served 3,900 youth, 65 percent of whom either had job placements (paying an average wage of $9.32/hour) or completed their high school diploma or GED. Two hundred participants were placed in postsecondary schools or college upon completion of their secondary education. Scaling this program up to 100 sites would more than triple the program at a cost of $108.5 million.
At a time of the year when we traditionally give thanks and prepare to share generously with those around us, the American people are both frustrated and disappointed. When the financial industry was hemorrhaging, there was great urgency in devising the TARP plan for its rescue. Despite the ambivalence of most Americans with regards to spending billions of dollars to bail out the very businesses they felt had previously taken advantage of them, they understood the need to take swift and deliberate action to avoid a major national, or even global, financial crisis. We ask that the same urgency be given to the people experiencing a personal financial crisis in cities throughout this country. Recognizing the tremendous amount of work that is required to implement a plan of this magnitude in the most efficient and beneficial manner, I make myself available to meet with you to discuss the ideas proposed herein.
Sincerely,
Marc H. Morial
President and Chief Executive Officer
National Urban League
Time to Declare “Peace” on Youth Violence. The National Urban League makes a statement?
It’s interesting that the National Urban League is starting to address disparities among the Black youth of America. The St. Louis Urban League in cue to receive over $15 million in Stimulus dollars – what has happened to the Minneapolis Urban League, who reported at Wednesdays Board meeting that the Greater Twin Cities United Way will drastically cut funding to the fledgling social service agency. The Minneapolis Urban League will be cutting several jobs today(10/30). To those hard working staff members who lost their jobs at a once thriving flagship social service agency, we wish you the best and hope “change” will come in the form of “process with solutions” at the Minneapolis Urban League.
“With a commitment to solutions and no ears to listen, the Minneapolis Urban League continues to troll in deep water with a boat to big to keep float.”
The message falling on deaf ears from Marc H. Morial – President and CEO, National Urban League
If you’re reading this in your local urban newspaper, you probably encountered at least one story about youth violence in your community before finding your way to this column. But wading through reports of violence in the news pales beside the daily real life experiences of many young people across this nation. According to a recently released Justice Department report, “More than 60 percent of the nation’s youth have been exposed to violence within the last year. Nearly 1 in 2 was physically assaulted at least once, with more than 1 in 10 injured in an assault.”
While incidents like the 1999 Columbine massacre which caused the deaths of 13 people or the 2007 Virginia Tech rampage which took the lives of 32 make international headlines, we are in the grips of a largely silent epidemic of youth violence that is endangering the lives of hundreds of thousands of children across this country every year.
A few weeks ago, the nation was riveted by a YouTube video of the senseless beating death of Derrion Albert, a Chicago high school honor student. Derrion was attacked on his way home from school as he innocently walked through a crowd of rival gang members. According to the New York Times, “Close to 70 students have been murdered [in Chicago] since the beginning of the 2007 school year.”
This level of violence is exceptional by any standard, but sadly, it is replicated at equally unacceptable levels in many of our major cities. As Attorney General Holder said during his recent visit to Chicago to address this issue, “Youth violence is not a Chicago problem any more than it is a black problem, a white problem or a Hispanic problem. It is an American problem.”
A problem this big calls all of us to action. In recent years, we declared “war” on drugs and “war” on terrorism. Today, I think it’s time we declare “peace” on youth violence. I was pleased that Holder and Education Secretary, Arne Duncan went to Chicago to begin what they called “a sustained national conversation” about youth violence in response to the Derrion Albert murder. Holder also announced a request for $24 million in next year’s budget for community-based prevention programs such as Ceasefire and Project Safe Neighborhoods. But stopping and preventing youth violence will take more than money. And it is about more than violence.
While young people who commit violent acts must ultimately be held accountable for their crimes, we cannot ignore the role that poverty, parenting, poor schools, guns, drugs, gangs and the lack of opportunity play in this on-going tragedy. We must invest both more money and more of ourselves in solving these problems if we want to dig out the roots of youth violence. As someone said to me recently, if we can find the votes and the money for a $700 billion bailout of Wall Street, we ought to be able to summon the will and the resources to save our kids.’
The WAVE Project on KFAI-FM 90.3 with Lennie Chism, IBNN’s Don Allen and local comedian “KJ” Sunday, July 26, 2009 from 6 – 7 p.m.
Tune into KFAI-FM Radio at 90.3 for the show “Mobilizing Impoverished Wealth.”
We will discuss strategies to improve and enhance local neighborhoods through community involvement are presented by Lennie Chism and his special guest the Independent Business News Network’s Editor and Chief Don Allen, who lately has a lot to say about “process” and why the same people are always at the table with little to no results. You can read his online Blog at www.ibnn.org.
Also included in this show will be live music by Soulasious along with special guest comedian and one of Twin Cities hottest up and coming comedian Kelechi Jaavaid. (KJ is the brother from the whopper freak out commercial. See more of KJ at (www.myspace.com/kjay02).
Subject of Program:
The questions of the day: “Why does everyone try to escape the high cost of Black address in an impoverished community?” What’s with the “attacks” on Black people from the news media to local “stratified” politicians whom have forgotten that in most cases some of them represent the poorest neighborhoods in Minneapolis?
- Why hasn’t the foreclosure crisis (opportunity) been solved? Who are the players that have created a new industry while throwing $100 million dollars at a “crisis” and still have no measurable results – should it be tolerated?
- The Minneapolis Department of Civil Right…Should they stay or go? This brings up an interesting topic that will be discussed in detail by Mr. Allen, who in his own words says, “They have not done the job for the minority-ethnic community – heads must roll, starting with the replacement of the director of the MDCR and Minneapolis mayor R.T. Rybak and most of the Minneapolis City Council. The City Council should at least look like the communities they represent.”
- What role should north Minneapolis non-profit social service play…and why is the Minneapolis Urban League so dysfunctional?
- The mayor’s use of the “N” word. “North Minneapolis.” We see no measurable results, but a plan to uproot a community.
- We will discuss the rolls of local social service agencies that have become an institution unto themselves with money in and no “pipeline” to the community.
We will explore the strategies to cure the stigma of having an impoverished address. The community problem solver often spends an enormous amount time addressing the symptoms without finding the cures. Example: We are so busy swatting the flies but often neglect to remove the excrement that draws them.
What kind of people will be interested in this program and what will the listeners gain?
Grassroots community organizers who strive to improve the lot of the impoverished community will find the strategies practical and put them into action.
We will take an “inside” view of local politics and “process” that have left communities of color on the outside looking in.
Our community has been denied information for over 40 years. This is an opportunity to tell what’s really going on.
Tune in Sunday, July 26, 2009 from 6 p. m. to 7 p.m. on KFAI-FM Radio – 90.3 on your FM dial. Listeners can also tune in via the Internet by going to www.kfai.org.
The Wave Project: Addressing the high cost of “Black” Address on KFAI-FM (90.3) 6 p.m. – Sunday, July 26 – “Mobilizing Impoverished Wealth”
Sunday, July 26, 2009 from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. tune into KFAI-FM Radio at 90.3 for the show “Mobilizing Impoverished Wealth.”
We will discuss strategies to improve and enhance local neighborhoods through community involvement are presented by Lennie Chism and his special guest the Independent Business News Networks Editor and Chief Don Allen, who lately has a lot to say about “process” and why the same people are always at the table with little to no results. You can read his online Blog at www.ibnn.org.
Also included in this show will be live music by Soulasious along with special guest comedian and one of Twin Cities hottest up and coming comedian Kelechi Jaavaid. (KJ is the brother from the whopper freak out commercial. See more of KJ at www.myspace.com/kjay02).
Subject of Program:
The questions of the day: “Why does everyone try to escape the high cost of Black address in an impoverished community?” What’s with the “attacks” on Black people from the news media to local “stratified” politicians whom have forgotten that in most cases some of them represent the poorest neighborhoods in Minneapolis?
- Why hasn’t the foreclosure crisis (opportunity) been solved? Who are the players that have created a new industry while throwing $100 million dollars at a “crisis” and still have no measurable results – should it be tolerated?
- The Minneapolis Department of Civil Right…Should they stay or go? This brings up an interesting topic that will be discussed in detail by Mr. Allen, who in his own words says, “They have not done the job for the minority-ethnic community – heads must roll, starting with the replacement of the director of the MDCR and Minneapolis mayor R.T. Rybak and most of the Minneapolis City Council. The City Council should at least look like the communities they represent.”
- The mayor’s use of the “N” word. “North Minneapolis.” We see no measurable results, but a plan to uproot a community.
- We will discuss the rolls of local social service agencies that have become an institution unto themselves with money in and no “pipeline” to the community.
- We will explore the strategies to cure the stigma of having an impoverished address. The community problem solver often spends an enormous amount time addressing the symptoms without finding the cures. Example: We are so busy swatting the flies but often neglect to remove the excrement that draws them.
What kind of people will be interested in this program and what will the listeners gain?
Grassroots community organizers who strive to improve the lot of the impoverished community will find the strategies practical and put them into action.
We will take an “inside” view of local politics and “process” that have left communities of color on the outside looking in.
Our community has been denied information for over 40 years. This is an opportunity to tell what’s really going on.
Tune in Sunday, July 26, 2009 from 6 p. m. to 7 p.m. on KFAI-FM Radio – 90.3 on your FM dial.
North Minneapolis Politics: Part 3: What is the Strategic Plan for the Empowerment Zone? Where has it “worked” in North Minneapolis?
On 2005 12/01/2005 the Minneapolis Empowerment Zone (EZ) announced the release of a $1 million Request for Proposals (RFP) for the purpose of spurring private investment in North Minneapolis. “The idea is to encourage businesses and organizations to locate on or expand in the Northside for job creation and increase economic development,” said Jonathan Palmer, former head of Minneapolis EZ (circa 2005).
In a phone call today (7/16/09) to Maria Conley, EZ Project Coordinator, who says the EZ has “no money,” it makes you wonder what really happened to millions of dollars meant to build, brand, and grow a blighted community. One of 14 areas zoned by the Federal Government as an Empowerment Zone, meant to uplift and build blighted areas like north Minneapolis. (City of Minneapolis Empowerment Zone Areas)-(Link: http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/ez/docs/ez-map.PDF)
When viewing the list of recipients, payments and status as of 2009, (which you can view “everything” here: http://ibnn.org/ez – Excell Workbook) it would seem that the EZ missed its mark as it pertains to the mission of assisting groups challenged by racial disparity and poverty, while race and class paid a huge part on who actually received the dollars from the Empowerment Zone.
Take a visit to the City of Minneapolis website visit the section titled The Minneapolis Empowerment Zone at (http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/ez/govboard.asp), when you arrive at the page, click on the link for “Strategic Plan.”
There is no “Strategic Plan” – file not found.
Could this be another example of the City of Minneapolis flying by the seat of its pants and failing Minneapolis along with other catastrophic failures like the Minneapolis Department of Civil Rights?
Minneapolis is long overdue for a “better breed” of politicians, representatives and even self-appointed leaders who will address the issues, not covertly throwing “hams” to people that don’t live in north Minneapolis or don’t look like us.
North Minneapolis residents (Black and White) must be “frosty” and pay attention to the plans of City Hall for our community. Still as we move forward, no “official” statement from the 5th CD Congressman, who could flex his perceived political power and address many items.
Secondly, we have to address agencies that are “business focused” like the West Broadway Business Area Coalition, whom for the most part is carrying water for the Peace Foundation and a couple of local politicians. It is IBNN’s position that this non-profit be dissolved or re-structured to be an effective entity for Businesses in north Minneapolis.
When we read the description on what the EZ does, it comes to question who in the area challenged by racial disparity and poverty are they talking about? North Minneapolis or NoMi has not changed much, despite the Billions of dollars over the last 10 years pumped in for programs, roads, buildings and to build capacity for residents that are $12,000 under the median income of the City of Minneapolis as a whole.
The website goes on to say, “The majority of Minneapolis’ minority population resides within the EZ, and close to one-third of all EZ households are on public assistance. The extreme poverty of EZ residents coupled with racial discrimination directly affects the health of EZ children and their families.
The Minneapolis Empowerment Zone or EZ, has for the most part completed projects like the Midtown YWCA which according to them, located at 21st Avenue and East Lake Street, the facility lies in the heart of this underserved community and gives residents a chance to improve their health more conveniently than ever.
The Empowerment Zone and rumors of multi-forgiveness’s makes us wonder, what is the plan; who is part of the plan and looking at North Minneapolis: “Where are the deliverables to the community?”
U of M is building out at Plymouth and Penn
University of Minnesota, meet North Minneapolis.
Oops, try again. And again.
It hasn’t been easy for the University of Minnesota to work its way into the North Side. A child development program it originally planned to locate there brought out protesters with picket signs. Its land acquisition attempts resulted in a rift with Hennepin County. Its efforts to study the mortgage foreclosure crisis have been criticized as too little, too late, in neighborhoods that had already been dealing first-hand with the issue for more than three years.
And a recent hiring flap outraged many neighbors and public officials, to the point where some are saying that the U just doesn’t seem to get it.
University officials say they are “walking the walk” of a complicated and ground-breaking urban partnership plan, and some bumps in the road shouldn’t obscure the important work they’re doing.
Briefly hired
When the University’s Urban Research and Outreach/Engagement Center (UROC) recently hired former Jordan Area Community Council (JACC) Executive Director Jerry Moore for a short-term mortgage foreclosure research project, some community members said they were shocked. JACC had fired Moore in January after he got into a fist fight at a neighborhood meeting. He has been at the center of controversy that has included legal action and heated arguments at meetings.
Dottie Titus, former JACC executive director, wrote in a recent blog: “What I mostly feel is disappointment. There was a great deal of mistrust of the University when the [University-Northside] partnership was first proposed, but I saw an incredible potential if the University was going to bring some of its best minds to help solve the problems North Minneapolis has faced over the past two or three decades.”
Hiring Moore was a betrayal of trust, she added. “In my mind, it speaks volumes about the University’s real interest (or lack thereof) in the Northside Partnership. We simply cannot depend on that bright vision once held out to us.”
Robert Jones, U of M Senior Vice President, said UROC hired Moore for a “casual, temporary” job. Moore had various short term work assignments, including reviewing and analyzing newspapers for content related to mortgage foreclosure issues.
“His work has been completed, he was given notice June 22 and he is leaving our employment,” Jones said.
When asked if the U did a background check on Moore before hiring him, Jones said they had not.
“I understand the community has concerns. We were not aware of any accusations when he was hired. No accusations or concerns were ever mentioned to my staff. Our goal was to hire people from the community and we tried to do that. We typically don’t do background checks on casual temporary workers; you can be hired on Monday and let go on Tuesday. Because of this issue, however, I have asked staff to do background checks from now on.”
Moore, contacted last week, referred all questions to Jones and Associate Vice President for System Academic Administration, Irma McClaurin.
UROC under construction
Meanwhile, the University is moving ahead with renovating a shopping mall at 2001 Plymouth Ave. N. that will house the Urban Research and Outreach/Engagement Center, UROC for short. According to McClaurin, who is also UROC’s Executive Director, about 60 U staffers might move in by early fall.
UROC will include, among other things, The Center for Early Education and Development’s 500 Under Five Kindergarten readiness program, which McClaurin said is neither a day care program nor a curriculum.
“We’re not service providers,” she added. “We will be working with parents. The programs and activities we offer come out of research that scholars are doing.”
Four U of M extension programs—urban youth development, nutrition education, family development and master gardening—will move in, as well as the U’s medical school health disparities program and the Center for Innovation and Economic Development. UROC administrators and University Northside Partnership staff will also have offices at the site.
McClaurin said the City Songs program, which nurtures children’s leadership skills through music and choir, will reside at the facility and operate in partnership with Plymouth Christian Youth Center (PCYC).
“We decided that this kind of program would build a partnership with the community,” McClaurin said.
PCYC Executive Director Anne Long said, “I think that this may happen, but I haven’t seen the beef yet. We’re actively working with them on the arrangements for City Songs but it’s not in place yet. The U is verbally committing to carrying some of the costs, but it’s only verbal at this point. It may be a little too soon to say it will happen.”
Mortgage foreclosure
McClaurin said UROC’s health outreach includes North Minneapolis residents’ physical and mental health. Because the area was hit so hard by the mortgage foreclosure crisis, there is a committee, Effects of the Mortgage Crisis on the Individual, the Family and the Community, she said, that meets every Thursday from 10:45 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
“Committee members are looking at the mortgage crisis and what impact it had had on individuals and the community’s health. We will be sending out surveys to service providers, asking what people are saying about how this has affected their physical and emotional health.
“Part of UROC’s mission is to fill a gap. Our goal is to increase public awareness. We will create a policy brief. This is not just an economic issue,” McClaurin said. “Over a two-year period, using data that is already out there, including CURA (Center for Urban and Regional Affairs) and the City of Minneapolis, we’re trying to pull it together to tell the story of the impact it has had on community health. It takes an emotional toll, sometimes resulting in divorce or suicide. People say they are losing faith in their community because there are no neighbors around anymore. We’re trying to tell that story.
“It hasn’t been told.”
Roberta Englund, executive director of the Folwell Neighborhood Association, said, “I’m pleased with what the U will bring to North Minneapolis from their base at Plymouth and Penn. 500 Under 5 can be a meaningful, contributing program to families. The U could be a supportive partner for stabilizing and revitalizing North Minneapolis neighborhoods. But they need to come with an understanding of what their mission is and what they can contribute. I don’t think that, from the very beginning, the U was in touch with the realities of North Minneapolis.
“They simply don’t pay attention,” Englund said. “They came to North Minneapolis with what I believe were good intentions, but they fell into the North Minneapolis trap of organizational self-aggrandizement. There were organizations and individuals involved with their coming who thought they would benefit.
“The voices the U listens to,” Englund added, “are those most collaboratively supportive to the opinions they have already formed. They have structured outreach according to their rules, and they have imposed a structure they are comfortable with.
“This whole business of foreclosure crisis is like closing the barn door,” Englund said. “It’s too late. For the U to come to the table and talk about it is a waste of their time and money and will not benefit anybody. This is not a storm that is going to regroup. If the U wanted to contribute anything meaningful, they would have looked at information from 10 years ago, including what was going on with the Federal Reserve, that contributed to the social and economic damage to the community. I don’t think anybody expected the kind of financial malfeasance and exploitation that we had. I wonder if we wouldn’t be better off understanding that.”
The symposium
Last spring (2009), the University of Minnesota hosted a foreclosure symposium and invited representatives from different cities. What city didn’t get invited? Minneapolis.
Tom Streitz, director of housing for the city of Minneapolis, said, “They did not connect with either me or [foreclosure coordinator] Cherie Shoquist in an expeditious way. We were not included in an invitation to participate. It was a little bit of a disappointment to us, because the City of Minneapolis is considered a national leader in foreclosure delivery efforts. I’ve personally given presentations on foreclosure response in other cities.”
Streitz added that the U eventually invited Minneapolis, after city officials learned about the symposium. Shoquist attended, he said, but he did not.
Hiring locally
Sharon Banks, U of M senior project manager, said she monitors compliance to make sure that the U is meeting its goals to hire women and minorities and to contract with minority and women-owned businesses. Two high school graduates are working as laborers on the UROC project through the Minneapolis Urban League, she said. (The Urban League’s trade specialist, Roosevelt Gaines, said they were hired as summer construction interns, at $13 an hour.) The Minneapolis Urban League pays their salaries, Banks said, and the U reimburses the Urban League.
Louis King, CEO of Summit OIC, a Northside employment training program, said Banks had contacted him about the UROC project, but he turned it down. “This was a $2 million deal. We are involved in a $200 million project at Target and a $4 million project at the Twins stadium. I told her I was not interested in tying up my people going to those meetings for this job [to get this job], which was a relatively modest rehab over a short period. We want long term engagement, where people can launch careers. From our perspective, it was a whole bunch of talk about nothing. I told them they were putting in more hours in meetings than there were hours of work for our employees.”
Banks said that Summit students were more qualified than the entry-level laborers the U was seeking for the UROC project. Summit’s students would have had to be hired by the sub-contractors, not by the university, she added.
Banks said the U hired several subcontractors from North Minneapolis, including MN Best, Boone Trucking, Inc., and Vera Construction. An address check of the companies showed that MN Best is in Fridley and Boone Trucking is in Northeast. Vera Construction’s address is 2020 Aldrich Ave. N.
Cicchetti and the county
An initial 2005-2006 plan to partner with Hennepin County on a center for early education and child development, led by Dante Cicchetti, head professor at the U’s Institute of Child Development—triggered protests from a group called Leaders of African Americans Concerned Together (LAACT).
The group accused the U of not being forthcoming about its research plans, and said it worried that it would be similar to past projects that targeted low income African Americans for mental health tests without their knowledge or consent. The U denied that, and tried to move forward with plans to locate the child development center in one of three places: in NorthPoint’s human services building at Plymouth and Penn, across the street from NorthPoint on a vacant lot, or in a strip mall at the same intersection.
The University was working on buying the strip mall, once known as the King Shopping Center, from the Northside Residents Redevelopment Council (NRRC). The shopping center—which had fallen into disrepair and had a bad reputation for illegal activities out front formerly housed Snow Foods and Lucille’s Kitchen. The $1.25 million sale touched off a dispute between NRRC and the Neighborhood Revitalization Program (NRP), with NRP demanding that NRRC pay back renovation and redevelopment loans with its proceeds from the sale. After the University declined to take on NRRC’s debt as part of the sale price, NRRC and NRP battled it out, reaching an agreement in November, 2007.
The University completed the sale and moved forward on renovating the shopping center to house a multitude of programs.
Meanwhile, its partnership with Hennepin County didn’t go so well, when the U decided that the rent the county proposed to charge was too high.
“It’s all water under the dam as far as I’m concerned,” Jones said, “But it was unfortunately framed that we were pulling out of the North Side, when we said we couldn’t afford to be in the building.”
Jones said they are still looking for a site for Cicchetti’s program. “That’s what the original partnership with the county was supposed to house. We intended to renovate the shopping center and address other critical programs the community said it wanted: early childhood education, health and nutrition, technical assistance to small businesses. The plan was to locate all of those in the shopping center, but it wasn’t big enough for the Cicchetti program, so we started talking to the county.”
The commitment
McClaurin said that the University is committed to UROC. “We are one of few Universities in country—if not the only one—that is doing community engagement that has situated its facility in the community that it has said it wanted to partner with. We’re walking the walk. We’re purchasing rather than leasing the building. The Board of Regents approved $4.4 million for purchase and renovation. Running the facility, including salaries, will cost $700,000 – $900,000 a year.
Jones, who lived in North Minneapolis for 20 years, said that from the beginning, the U has encountered “naysayers, people who are vocally against what we’re trying to do on the North Side.
“People have a right to their opinions. But UROC is a vision that [U of M] President Bruininks and I came up with. We are one of the largest, most complex universities in the world. We are a land grant U, which means that implicit in our mission is an obligation to serve the citizens in the state, and we’ve done that very well.
“When we launched our strategic planning,” Jones said, “we decided to reach out to the urban community. The thinking was, as North Minneapolis and surrounding communities go, so goes the economic vitality of Minneapolis and St. Paul. We have the objective to solve some issues that are critical to them.
“In this new strategic vision, we are an urban university.
“We need to have a vision of engagement to address some complex issues together. This is an opportunity to move the U of M in a different direction and create a partnership between the U and the urban community. Not many places in the country are making that commitment.”
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