Management increases have outpaced those of ‘the people you don’t hear about’ Nearly 20 “frontline” University of Minnesota workers testified February 6 at a forum held at the school’s Coffman Union before three state legislators: Minnesota Senators Jeff Hayden and Patricia Torres Ray, and State Representative Rena Moran. The U of M’s non-faculty workers say they “feel ignored … [Read more...]
Leroy King, Sr. remembers his namesake — King Supermarket — in N. Mpls
On June 24, 1975, almost 40 years ago, Leroy King, Sr. was the founder/owner/operator of King Supermarket. This African American family-owned grocery store was located at 2005 Plymouth Avenue North in Minneapolis. Currently that space is occupied by the University of Minnesota's Urban Research and Outreach-Engagement Center (UROC), and its new address is now 2001 Plymouth … [Read more...]
The Hickman-Parks family: generations of patriotism, activism, service
As the Emancipation Proclamation was declared and the American Civil War came to an end, there was still a lot of work to do and trails to travel for the freed African slaves here in America. It was the late 1890s when a group of approximately 40 Black families in Kentucky decided to head north, migrating to Minnesota and eventually landing in Fergus Falls. Many decided to … [Read more...]
Winter and mobility impairments
We are in Minnesota and the least favorite of the two seasons we experience here: our dreaded winter with snow and ice. I request all of us to become, if we are not already, “our brother’s keeper.” Our city is full of totally independent persons with disabilities. We deserve to be able to freely move about our fair city as each of us desires. To this end, every individual … [Read more...]
2015 may see U.S. imperialism and its minions turn up the heat
The year 2015 promises to be a very different year than years past. If the last four months are any indication, we are in for rough times. There are those who think either things can’t get worse or that things get better with time. Neither are true, and when applied to the U.S. landscape they are even more false. President Obama has tried to tell us that the lives of Black … [Read more...]