Lack of Liquor Store Reduces Crime in North Minneapolis Neighborhood

One year after the May 22, 2011, tornado that ravaged North Minneapolis, things are looking up for Anthony and Shemeika Strong. Anthony has been entrusted as the superintendent of their apartment building at 2509 Golden Valley Rd., which is nearly full of renters, and whose outside brick walls and roof look much better than those of neighboring buildings.

The absence of the Broadway Liquor Outlet six blocks away on the corner of Broadway and Penn — the most prominent local business before the storm — has also been a blessing, says Anthony, who cynically jokes that “a liquor store to a black man is always good in your neighborhood.” (Ironically, the sole piece of legislation to come out of the Minnesota State Capitol during the 2012 session was a move to help that liquor store re-open on the other side of Broadway Ave.)

That store was decimated by the tornado and looted just 10 minutes later, allegedly prompting Minneapolis police to forcibly vacate the apartment buildings on Golden Valley Rd., and send Anthony, Shemeika and their neighbors to the North Commons community center, where the Red Cross converted the gymnasium into a temporary shelter with hundreds of cots lining the floor. After a couple of weeks they moved into a hotel room in Brooklyn Center, where their bill was covered and where they were given bus cards.

By last summer, the Strongs had decided that their apartment building was livable, and they moved back in, despite an orange condemned sticker that the City had slapped on the front door. Anthony became the building’s de facto superintendent, and they’ve been there ever since.

Story by Jacob Wheeler: Video by Matt Johnson

Boisterous Protests At Local Banks Stay Non-Violent

Traffic in downtown Minneapolis came to a standstill on Friday as protesters targeted big banks for bringing the economy and the lives of many people to a standstill as well.

“Everyone’s starting to see that the root of a whole lot of our problems whether it’s education or immigration, we’re all coming together around what the banks are doing to our communities.” said Steve Fletcher of Neighborhoods Organizing For Change.

About 500 people from many activist groups began a march from Peavey Plaza on May 11, 2012 to visit local bank headquarters and to generate attention along the way. They blocked traffic, sat down in two major Minneapolis Mall intersections, ignored police orders to leave and answered the order with chants, incense and Aztec dancing.

The police wisely retreated and let the demonstration play its course.

The people were angry, tempers were flaring, hostile words were spoken but there was not one violent action. Whether the world was changed remains to be seen, but Wells Fargo and U.S. Bank got an earful of what was expected of them.

Many reasons for the protest, but banks were the target … Continue Reading

“Vikings Got Bailed Out, We Got Sold Out!”

Members of the Welfare Rights Committee managed to interrupt the feel good bill signing moment at the Minnesota Capitol today by chanting such anthems as, “Kids Cannot Eat Footballs!” and “Shame on You Governor Dayton.”

Governor Mark Dayton was signing a bill authorizing public funding of a new stadium for the Minnesota Vikings NFL football team.

Says Lena Buggs, “Why would you fund a losing franchise at the sake of poor and working families here who are struggling to make it. Last time I checked, kids cannot eat footballs.”

The Committee responded to Governor Dayton’s promise that this will create thousands of jobs by countering that most of those jobs will be lower paying and temporary. While construction jobs are temporary, stadium builders claim that there will be thousands of new hospitality positions available once it’s built. Those claims are still not enough to satisfy Welfare Rights Committee activists, who have been vocal all session long about helping poor and working families.

Video: protest and Governor Dayton signs stadium bill … Continue Reading

Burnsville, MN, Residents Oppose Education Cuts, Four-Day Week

Residents of Burnsville, Minnesota, are livid that their schools will go to a four-day week to save money. This morning, they’ll discuss the impact of education shortfalls in the district on their kids and community. The group will hear recent experiences of parents, school staff and community members, followed by a discussion of the legislative choices that have led the school district to make drastic cuts, such as considering eliminating 17 school days from the academic calendar. Residents will discuss solutions and ask their legislators to adequately fund schools by having every Minnesotan and every corporation pay their share of taxes. State Senator Daly and Representatives Wardlow and Anderson have all been invited to attend.

Minnesota Somali Women And Men Discuss Infertility Issues

A group of women and men gathered together to discuss the issue of infertility is probably a rare event — particularly within the Minnesota Somali community. But this week, several hundred Twin Cities Somalis attended Insuroon, a conference on women’s infertility issues. Insuroon is a Somali word that means, “Woman who can take care of herself.”

Fartun Weli, local Somali activist, planned and organized this unique event. Other speakers explored the numerous aspects of female infertility. As the importance and size of the Somali community in the Twin Cities grows, more health and social services aimed at Somalis have blossomed. (Minneapolis boasts the second largest urban Somali population in the world, following Mogadishu, the capital of the war-torn East African nation.) … Continue Reading

MN Activists Call on 3M to Remove Corporate Funds From Politics

3M shareholders attending their annual meeting were met by a group of vocal activists from Public Citizen, Common Cause, Minnesotans for a Fair Economy, Take Action Minnesota and 99% Power. The activists demanded that the Minnesota-based Fortune 500 company keep its money out of politics and called for more transparency in corporate political involvement. Standing in their way is the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2010 “Citizens United” decision, which ruled that, under the First Amendment, corporations and people have the same rights to free speech and political campaign donations.

Two years ago, 3M and fellow Minnesota-based company Target both came under fire for their political activities. Prior to the 2010 midterm elections, 3M gave $100,000 to MN Forward, a front group backing GOP gubernatorial candidate Tom Emmer. Target’s $150,000 contribution caused a consumer protest that was credited with hurting Target sales. The protest began with a Target consumer cutting up her Target charge card in a store, followed by a rally at Target’s corporate headquarters, during which activist delivered petitions with 240,000 signatures. Emmer’s pro-corporate position favored repealing corporate taxes, while limiting the rights of gays in Minnesota. Emmer narrowly lost the governor’s race to Democrat Mark Dayton in 2010, following a statewide recount. … Continue Reading

Occupy-Backed Homeowner Monique White Wins Loan Modification, Keeps House

Embattled North Minneapolis homeowner Monique White has won a long-sought loan modification from her original lender, US Bank. The improbably victory followed a nearly six-month long battle that the African-American single working mother fought with the help of the Occupy Homes movement, which crescendoed when she approached US Bank CEO Richard Davis at the bank’s annual shareholders meeting in April. This is the second major victory that Occupy Homes has notched in Minneapolis. Former Marine Bobby Hull also won the right to keep his home on the south side.

White will now pay approximately $200 less per month on her home. Last week, she received a phone call from US Bank Vice President Bill Parker informing her that the bank had found a sum that would work for White to keep her North Minneapolis home. “He said, ‘Will $616.36 work for you?’ And I said ‘yes’. I am just so happy.” Days after confronting CEO Davis and landing a promise that Vice President Parker would help her, White had a scheduled court date that was to determine her fate: eviction or loan modification. Now she has a new loan term that begins in July.

“US Bank set the bar really high for all the other banks who say they cannot re-negotiate loans to families facing foreclosure,” said Anthony Newby, an organizer with Neighborhoods Organizing for Change. “Occupy Homes has said all along that this is what we want: to figure out a way to keep families in their homes and communities.”

Homeowners Facing Foreclosure Can Delay Sheriff’s Sale for Five Months

A little known Minnesota law allows homeowners facing foreclosure to petition for a five-month delay of the sheriff’s sale — a period of time during which they have more leverage than after the sale. The Minnesota legislature passed this law two years ago, but it is not widely known, and banks rarely notify embattled homeowners of this right.

 

On May 7, Twin Cities faith leaders gathered in front of US Bank headquarters in Minneapolis to speak about how practices by Wall Street and major banks violate their shared faith values. Meanwhile, a coalition of community activists announced an educational anti-foreclosure campaign. Following the rally, organizers from Neighborhoods Organizing for Change and Jewish Community Action trained over 30 volunteers to educate homeowners about the law that allows them to delay a sheriff’s sale. The volunteers contacted 300 homeowners in the Twin Cites who are battling US Bank and Wells Fargo in an attempt to avoid foreclosure. … Continue Reading

Healing Minnesota’s Darkest Period: Pardoning a Dakota Indian

It’s December 26, 1862 in Mankato, Minn. The cold air and snowfall surround 38 Dakota men awaiting their death by hanging for crimes allegedly committed during the US-Dakota War of that year. A great mood of retribution and anger has enveloped white settlers following the six-week war in southern Minnesota.

The hanging in Mankato is the largest mass execution in U.S. history. It’s also considered by many to be the largest miscarriage of justice in U.S. history. The Dakota men were tried in a military court without fair representation. Their verdict was decided in a matter of hours.

A century and a half later, Minnesota State Representative Dean Urdahl is trying to right that wrong, or at least symbolically make amends.

The U.S.-Dakota War

In August of 1862, after a poor harvest and delays in payments from the federal government, many Dakota were fed up and starving. After pleading at the Indian agency in Lower Sioux for food, they were told to, “eat grass.” War broke out and blood was shed. … Continue Reading

Stadium Opponent Rep. Winkler Decides To Vote For Stadium.

With the Minnesota House about to take a vote on the proposed Vikings stadium, Representative Ryan Winkler (DFL-Golden Valley) has decided to reverse his opposition to it because of the jobs it will bring.Press release from Representative Ryan Winkler’s office:

“Minnesota’s economy remains slow, and too many of our citizens are still looking for jobs and cannot find them. We have an immediate jobs shortage, and we must take action to create a broadly prosperous state for our children and grandchildren.

“Yet state government has been incapable of providing even short-term solutions, much less embracing a vision for economic success. The current Vikings stadium debate is a vivid demonstration of our inability to set the right priorities for our state.

“Building a Vikings stadium will not produce long-term economic growth. Every independent economic analysis shows that building a stadium provides no net increase in job growth. Minnesota will see the benefit of a boost in construction jobs, but beyond that the economic benefits of a new stadium are very limited.

“The stadium funding package moving through the Legislature could have been a better deal for Minnesotans. It gives the Vikings more money than they need, and it is funded through a regressive form of revenue. We could have done much better.

“Last month I voted against the stadium bill, hoping that we could move on with the session and focus on other initiatives to create jobs and promote sustained economic growth. I hoped the Vikings would wait while we addressed the more vital concerns of our state, like innovation and research, education, and expanding the middle class. … Continue Reading