Urban League of Greater Cleveland plans to cease operations…?
“In a phone call placed today (12/21/09) to the Greater Cleveland Urban League, we find out the agency is still open – in spite of this May 19, 2009 article. Sources tell IBNN this Urban League like many more across the United States suffer from the same lack of fund-raising, processes and development – like the one in Minneapolis. Could this be the fate of our Minneapolis Urban League?”
Also read Star Parkers, “Gospel of dependence from National Urban League” – I want to show the side of black America for which we ourselves are responsible and which really point to where our problems lie.
Originally By SHANNON MORTLAND in Crain’s Cleveland Business 2:36 pm, May 19, 2009
After 92 years, the Urban League of Greater Cleveland plans to close its doors for good on May 29.
The nonprofit, which provides various programs to help African-Americans enter the economic and social mainstream, announced today that it will suspend all programming on May 22 and will cease operations on May 29. The Urban League currently employs 15 people, down from 30 in 2002. Read more
The Repetitive Exploitation of Black Minnesota: Here we go again…
African-American Men Project; Prostate Screenings; HIV/AIDS; Breast Cancer Screenings; Dairy Queen;Tires Plus; Siyeza, Inc; NRRC; Synergy…
“Good intentions have funded projects with the same point people that continue to fail Black Minnesota. When will Black Minnesota get tired of the blatant Exploitation of their Community?” ~Don Allen
By Donald W.R. Allen, II – Editor in Chief/IBNN
Several years ago, St. Paul Pioneer Press journalist David Hawley wrote a story titled “Minneapolis: Study Details Problems Facing City’s Black Men,” dated January 24, 2002.
The story details, the results of a two-year study in which Hawley stated the outlook for African-American men in Minneapolis is grim. In the article Hawley wrote: “If you’re an African-American man ages 18 to 30, the odds are roughly 50-50 that you live in one of the city’s poorest, most crime-ridden neighborhoods and that a single mother reared you. There’s also about a 50-50 chance that you didn’t finished high school and only a slightly lesser chance that you will be arrested in the next year, most likely for a minor offense. If you are arrested, the odds are greater than 50-50 that you will be charged again within the next two years.”
In response to Hawley’s “grim” article, Gary L. Cunningham, the former Director of NorthPoint Health and Wellness and the overseer of the African-American Men Project, an organization that once had the power and respect of the community to make meaningful change, but has now has been reduced to a glorified referral service, had only one thing to say, “This report deals with what people call “wicked problems’ in our society.”
Wicked problems” are still not solved today – even by the people who identified them 8 years ago despite an incredible amount of funding and resources. Read more
MLK Breakfast Part II: Go ahead celebrate – while your having breakfast…2 Million Black Households WITH Children Face Hunger
Minneapolis, MN – Sources tell IBNN a group of “the usual suspects” are atempting to create and develop a CDC (Community Development Council) in north Minneapolis with a local Foundation.The problem is, the individuals tasked to head up this group have not had one successful long term buiness venture north Minneapolis.
Again the community is pimped, played and starved.
This isn’t even the tip of the iceberg….
1.8 million Black Households with children are food insecure – Black households with children experiencing very low food security up 92%
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service (USDA) reported yesterday that almost one in four children living in the United States are food insecure. According to the 2009 report on Household Food Insecurity in the United States, there is a striking disparity in the prevalence of food insecurity among black children. Nearly two million black households with children were food insecure at least some time during the year, an increase of 25 percent over 2007. In 2008, there were 3.76 million non-Hispanic white households with children that were food insecure. The study also revealed that 146,000 black households with children — a 92 percent increase over 2007 — experienced very low food security, meaning that the food intake of one or more of the household children was reduced and their eating patterns were disrupted at times during the year because the household lacked money. Read more
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.’
Minneapolis Public Schools continue to fail children of color – Public Hearing on Education to be held (10/22/09)
By Donald W.R. Allen,II – Editor in Chief IBNN (Comments are welcomed at info@ibnn.org or by clicking here.)
“Education is a process. If the focus of the process is on the wrong product (teachers, money) we get the wrong results. We need to set the standards for and focus on the kids like they do in prep schools. The goal should be a kid with all the tools to enter and succeed in college. Then he or she can choose if college is right for him or her”.
…John Sousa-Facebook
The video above features four of the brightest young Black children in the Public School System. By their answers, its clear that they are not being challenged.
L.J. 8; LaMonty 7; Davy 6 and little LaShieya 3 years-old. Their mother Shay, had this to say: “As a parent, I stayed up all night thinking about the answers my children gave. It may me think why don’t my children know about other choices and I have to remind them that they can be anything they want. Secondly, what are the schools teaching them. We have to look at the problems in our public schools immediately. If this is all the Minneapolis Public Schools has to offer Black children, its time the community come together and hold them in contempt for not teaching our children.”
Minneapolis, MN (October 16, 2009)…A Public Hearing on Education will be held on Thursday, October 22, 2009 from 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at Pierre Bottineau Library located at 55 Broadway St NE in Minneapolis.
This panel discussion will include community members and representatives from the Minneapolis Chapter of the NAACP and the African-American Community Alliance.
Fact: The Minneapolis Public School System is failing children of color.
The Star Tribune’s October 14th article “Minnesota Math Scores: good but not the best,” this article hints there is a glimmer of hope for the public school systems. However, after reading the article and looking at the Minnesota Department of Education’s website, you will see the test results for inner city schools continuing to decline.
While the Minnesota Department of Education has detailed the Functional Requirements for the 2009 No Child Left Behind – Adequate Yearly Progress Calculations with charts, graphs and statistics, inner city schools in Minneapolis and surrounding suburbs with large populations of children of color consistently do not make the grade.
Children of color should aspire to become doctors, lawyers and bankers. The reality is that children are not being mentored in the direction needed to facilitate those dreams. The public school system must be held accountable for the lack of nurturing an educational foundation that has bypassed children of color.
When we ask children of color, “What do want to be when you grow up?” We get answers like football and basketball players and the most sought after career, “Rapper.”
Something is very wrong with a child in the public schools wanting to be a Rapper.
On a funding note, this hearing will also address question to the Minneapolis Public Schools System like, “Where did the $8.6 million of SES (Supplemental Educational Services) dollars go? Where did the Compensatory Education Dollars go? Where did the Title I Behavior dollars go?
And where did the Referendum Dollars go?
More importantly, what happened to the $103,770.00 gifted to the Minneapolis Urban League for marketing SES after school tutoring programs? What happened to the “Covenant?”
Where is the report?
We only hope there is someone is there to answer the questions.
IBNN has sent several requests to the Minneapolis Public Schools Dan Lowenson to obtain information on the report.
No reply has been forwarded.
Join the African American Community Alliance, NAACP and concerned community members for the Hearing on Public Education.
For more information, contact Sarah Younus at sarah.younus@gmail.com for more information.
The Minneapolis Urban League in trouble…layoff’s and program doors shut next?
IBNN Editors Note: Residents of Minneapolis should read closely the messages sent out in the local Black press that attempt to position this organization as one on the move up, when in fact troubles continue to linger. IBNN has written favorable stories and not-so favorable stories about the Minneapolis Urban League (MUL). Since the Minneapolis Urban League is a membership organization, under the color of law, how will the MUL handle the possible over-throw of the current board to protect “the membership’s $16 million dollar investment on the corner of Penn and Plymouth Avenue North?” If you recall – it was the Minneapolis Urban League management who decided to release great employees in favor of routing dollars to ACORN home foreclosure counseling, among other things. So far the National Urban League has not returned one call to IBNN in over a year…
Under the Minnesota Law – “We” (members in good standing) have the sole responsibility to seek out competent board members and management to continue the organizations ongoing commitment to the community.
Originally posted in The Minneapolis Story
At 5:15 p.m., today, Thursday, 9-17-09, Minneapolis Urban League Branch President Scott Gray announced, in closed session, the new austerity: 10% salary reduction across the board; termination of ten employees within 30 days; and an indication that the staff of the Urban League Street Academy would go on part time employee status (thus losing their benefits).
Ever since the sell-outs kicked Nellie Stone Johnson and me (Ron Edwards) out 20 years ago, when I was the President of the Urban League with 118 employees, they have cannibalized the organization, reducing it from the 118 employees then to what will be less than 20 employees now.
We show how this got started in Chapter 14 of The Minneapolis Story. (The Book)
Autopsy of Black Business in North Minneapolis – Part 2: American Idol Political Patronage
“Change is not a destination, just as hope is not a strategy.”
By Donald W.R. Allen,II – editor in chief IBNN
We are the elected Black leaders who represent the people of north Minneapolis. We are smarter than any of our constituents, and the White people who helped us get in office like us a lot; at least they tell us that. The residents in our district are mostly Black, uneducated and poor. We have the upper hand because our constituents will not question us. We have a “celebrity” status and we are above question. North Minneapolis residents will never ask us when, how or why.
The north Minneapolis media will never question us. They will always feature us on the front page of their newspapers as the best thing since “mom’s sweet potato pie.”
We would never publically support a Black man for Mayor of Minneapolis – R.T. Rybak is our friend.
Since we’ve already “made it,” we have no loyalty to any other Black man or woman in Minneapolis or the 5th Congressional District. We haven’t and will not publically endorse Kenya McKnight, Lennie Chism, Natalie Lee Johnson or Roger Smithrud for Ward 5 Minneapolis City Council; we think the current leadership is fine.
Black business – it’s fine, but we would never assist them in building capacity in north Minneapolis; Black business creates new Black leaders. We don’t want “new” leaders; we want everyone to follow us.
One of us recently told a constituent that if he wanted to talk to us, he’d better come at us with a network, “like Verizon.” But we’re not worried; the people of north Minneapolis are segregated in too many silos.
We are fully aware that residents of north Minneapolis are some of the poorest people in Minnesota, have the highest unemployment rate, and have no real opportunities to live the American Dream. We know this, but we don’t really care. We can keep a captive audience by keeping the poor on their knees, while blaming the Republicans, Bush and rich White people that we say should be taxed more.
We point fingers at the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) but don’t pass any laws to empower MnDOT to get people of color jobs on Minnesota roads and highways. We hold “Barnum and Bailey” hyped-up town hall meetings at the north side YMCA to the blame “those White folks at MnDOT.”
Knowing the solutions rest in the committees we’re in, we could never tell the residents of north Minneapolis the real story.
The real story is each of us, local; state; and federal have the power to change the laws and assist in building capacity for residents, business and organizations of north Minneapolis, but we choose to finger-point and grandstand.
One of us will only support non-profits rather than also seeking to build capacity for businesses. We rallied other politicians and law enforcement to shutdown Black businesses in north Minneapolis; to view a group of Black youth gathered together on the street as gang members.
We want to make north Minneapolis “user friendly” for us. On our terms!
The fact of the matter is this: we’re assisted by a group of non-elected, self-appointed Black leaders in north Minneapolis, who are weak.
These men, who are “outstanding in their own minds,” talk about how they will be the conduits for “stimulus dollars” and attend meetings with the President, and if we, the elected leadership, continue to patronize these “blow-hards” while smiling in their faces, they will not question us.
Now really, do we have to support Black business, for that matter “another Black man or woman?”
We know that Black residents of north Minneapolis are extremely impressed by the fact that there is a black president—and we can say that we know him personally!
***
North Minneapolis residents need to WAKE UP and ask questions of its elected leaders rather than treating them like “American Idols.”
(Simon wouldn’t have it any other way!)
Minneapolis Department of Civil Rights Director Michael Jordan, Delayed, Stopped and Re-Buffed with a vote of No Confidence!
On Monday (7/6/09), at Minneapolis City Hall, the Health, Energy and Environment Committee, standing committee of the Minneapolis City Council, met to discuss 6 line items, which included the Minneapolis Department of Civil Rights budget and the report back on the Task Force’s analysis.
While Council members Hofstede, Ostrow and Goodman sat uninterested and bland, Council members Lilligren, Benson, Gordon engaged in healthy dialog about the direction of MDCR Task Force and the proposed analysis that was to be presented today.
With the concerns of many community members and true stakeholders the MDCR director Michael Jordan’s “analysis” was put on hold until July 20, 2009, as if to site a vote of “no confidence” for Jordan. The Civil Rights Commission’s Ken Brown, Acting Chairman told IBNN that the report or analysis was one of Mr. Jordan’s own doing and did not represent the community or “true stakeholders,” “It was fussy, incomplete and lacked qualitative and quantitative information that should be a part of any financial or procedural analysis.”
As IBNN reported in an earlier story, director Jordan’s Civil Rights Task Force was comprised of City of Minneapolis employees, and others Jordan had personally invited to be on the task force, like Community Actions Bill Davis, who we allege is one of the players in the fall of the NAACP. Mr. Davis who had a confrontation with Mayoral candidate Al Flowers last year was on the ground in Sabathani Community Center’s parking lot when calling police to report he’d been struck, the dispatcher asked, “Did a car hit you?” (LOL!)
This Task Force was mandated to seek options, but was merely a “smoke screen” created by the suggestion of Minneapolis City Council person Elizabeth Glidden, who “waffled” when informed that Director Jordan had removed several community members from the first meeting by saying, “The is a private meeting.” Glidden did not come down to the meeting after she personally called IBNN and invited us to the meeting.
Council member Lilligren brought up a great point, “Have we investigated other funding options, like contract compliance in the MARQ2 project? Could we find funding by assigning the MDCR to monitor and develop compliance reports on projects like that?
Jordan remained mute…uninterested and stubborn.
Protesters lined the chambers of Minneapolis City Council meetings with signs protesting the Mayors cutting of the Investigative Unit.
Also on hand was Ward 5 City Council candidate Kenya McKnight, who by the way, tore the City Council a “new one” with her comments on the importance of having the MDCR investigators stay put.
Commentary
When will someone come forward and address the systemic failures in our city government? The Minneapolis City Council has failed to take any corrective action in contract compliance; Investigative discrepancies and inter-office “trusts.”
Michael Jordan has failed the minority-ethnic community of Minneapolis through a “tainted” process of checks and balance that have left the community with no accountability from the Minneapolis Department of Civil Rights, investigative and contract compliance.
The Minneapolis Department of Civil Rights is contracted to do the compliance report for the new baseball stadium…where is it? (Not done!) What about all the contractors not in compliance as it pertains to the MDCR Ordinances? Where are the fines?
If Michael Jordan and his team of Contract Compliance folks had been on top of their game, we estimate a total of over $300,000+ in fines and a few disbarments of contractors that have repeatedly not been in compliance – but out of compliance contractors continue to receive City of Minneapolis Contracts.
Furthermore, where is the Council on Black Minnesotans? (Silent) Who is doing public policy and addressing these disparities in the MDCR; where is the voice of Ward 5 Council member Don Samuels?; the Mayor’s office?; and (surprise) Minneapolis Television Network (MTN), where over 90% of programming minority ethnic but the Board is a who’s whom of the White community.
I see a heinous “process” all over!
Back to the MDCR….”How can we trust the judgment of Michael Jordan?”
Michael Jordan has not come up with any alternative funding steams to assist in keeping the MDCR investigators in place. As I type this story, I can think of several alternative funding streams that will allow the MDCR keep its investigative unit in Minneapolis and not transfer to the State – but again, I do business.
These funding streams would not interfere with any project, budget or City of Minneapolis planned or current engagement – but would provide Minneapolis the opportunity to keep the MDCR Investigators right downtown where they belong.
One thing that has to be gone from the Minneapolis Department of Civil Rights is director Michael Jordan.
The people of Minneapolis deserve a better Civil Right’s director, not R.T.’s “yes man.”
In closing, we should think about moving out Mayor Rybak too!
African American Leadership Meetings assume power and representation where there is none. More important: Who speaks or represents the Twin Cities Black community in 2009?
“They’d like to say, ‘Well, you know, that’s just a handful of niggers out there. Just a handful of them. And they don’t represent nobody. They ain’t doin’ nothing,’ says Staten. “Well, that’s just the most insane thing in the world.”
…Rev. Randy Staten – serves as the head of the Coalition of Black Churches and serves as an official spokesman for the African American Leadership Summit. Comments from a 2003 interview with MPR’s Brandt Williams. See it here.
With the recent “waffling” of the Council on Black Minnesotans as it pertains to addressing issues in the Black community (including Somali’s in Rochester; Stimulus dollars; Economic Development; Health Care issues; and Civil Rights) within the last 90 days and the attempt by the Minneapolis Urban League to present propaganda to accomplish relevancy in the form of articles which appear in weekly issues of Insight News, who continues to give “photo ops” to people that don’t represent the African American community in Minneapolis, but continues a grand public relations coup without being fair and balanced to sway and skew the community, one thing going unnoticed by the group is that people are catching on quickly to what is going on. What you think you have…you don’t; most African Americans in the Twin Cities now look elsewhere for news and information, including IBNN. Read more
Negros not welcomed at Boom Island for the 2009 Juneteenth Celebration – IBNN Exclusive
In breaking news IBNN sources close to the Twin Cities 2009 Juneteenth Celebration say the organization has been rejected from having its event at Boom Island this year as planned. After careful planning by the Twin Cities Juneteenth committee, the City of Minneapolis has rejected the events 2009 planned location.
On Monday, May 4, 2009 a meeting was held with the Minneapolis Park Police, 3rd and 4th Minneapolis Police Precincts and members of the Minneapolis Park Board to inform Juneteenth organizers that this year’s event had been rejected from the inner city location of Boom Island.
Mary Pargo, Executive Director of the Twin Cities Juneteenth Celebration said in an exclusive interview, “We were the last to find out about the decision to not let this celebration take place at Boom Island. We had planned this down to the wire and spent dollars to insure we sent the right message to the Twin Cities community. Now we have to start all over.”
Ms. Pargo says the Juneteenth Celebration will move back to Wirth Park.
Again the City of Minneapolis and political pundits deal the Black community a bad hand by obstructing open community engagement. This is further evidence of Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak’s “Massa-Plan” to dismantle the Black community by strategically blocking community events and reducing funding for these engagements that come too close to the White mainstream in downtown Minneapolis.
If you recall, page 36 of the Minneapolis Mayor’s 2009 Supplemental Budget it states the following: Read more
IBNNNEW- North Minneapolis: NAACP President “Uncovers” two of the North side seven and an estimated $4 million dollars Donald Allen
- Apology to the North Minneapolis Community. We don’t have leaders, we have self-appointed spokespersons Donald Allen
- The Death of North Minneapolis… Donald Allen
- IBNN Exclusive Report: Youth with weapon attempts to enter funeral of Alisha “Lele” Neely (Captured on Film) Donald Allen
- WCCO 4 (CBS) Television fails in journalistic integrity with “edited and spliced” tape of the Minneapolis Police Beating of Ira Stafford…rating F- Donald Allen
News Services
Stumble It!