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.

Back in 2002, the African American Men Project had dozens of lengthy recommendations that address issues such as health care, education, housing and social programs. It called for an advisory board of African-American leaders to help coordinate efforts by public and nonprofit organizations and volunteers.

Now fast forward to Saturday November 21st, 2009. General Mills, a Fortune 500 Corporation, held an African-American Leadership Forum to help “address some of the same issues Hawley spoke of.” Partners in bedazzlement included the Headwaters Foundation, Northwest Area Foundation, and the Stairstep Foundation.

The event was attended by 170 “African-American leaders”. The community needs to know who chose these so-called, self-appointed leaders are. Many of the “leaders” in attendance are well-known in the community for their ineffective programs, outright corruption and the exploitation of the community disguised as community programs that yield no results.

Corporate dollars are exchanging hands on the behalf of the community, but only to the same corrupt hands that have been exploiting Minnesota’s African-American community for years.

Unbeknownst to Minnesota’s African-American community, these same corrupt and ineffective organizations and African-American community leaders are secretly being rounded up for funding sake to create jobs, wealth and independence for a few non-profit organizations and its employees that for the most part are not concerned with solving the problems of African-Americans in Minnesota – but focused on continued funding of their projects that work from the top down, creating no answers, and no results and no true relief to the community.

The Twin Cities has seen more than $100 million dollars in the last 5 years to address problems within and around the disparities of African-Americans. This is more than cities with African-American populations more than double our size. Which brings to mind one question, where is the money going?

The African-American Leadership group, convened by the Northwest Foundation, Headwaters Foundation and the Stairstep Foundation are poised to set in motion a turn of events that will again leave us reading a lot of reports that contain the same fluff and babble we have been hearing for years while presenting no measurable outcomes.

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