The North Star

we're back

2010-05-16T17:45:00.002-05:00

and just as feisty about the north side.

I'm stephan, and I'm going to bring this little brainchild of Paul Scmelzer back on line.
I'll be posting things, and I hope some of those of you who live over here will follow the urge to say something.

On hiatus

2009-01-10T16:35:00.002-06:00

We're taking a break from The North Star. Until we return, get local news via the Minnesota Independent or Eyeteeth.

Two teens shot in the head

2007-09-22T15:56:00.000-05:00

In two nights, two teenagers were shot in the head in unrelated incidents. On Thursday night, a 17-year-old boy was shot near the intersection of Lowry and Irving. No arrests have been made, and the boy will survive. Friday night, a 12-year-old girl leaving a party at 18th and Oliver at midnight (?!) was hit in the head by a stray bullet. She's in "serious condition" at North Memorial.

Gunshot hits Northside school bus

2007-09-20T18:53:00.000-05:00

A special needs school bus -- luckily one not filled with kids -- was hit by a bullet on Penn and 36th Tuesday afternoon. KARE-11 reports:

"Sounded like firecrackers going off on the 4th of July, but when they go off in this neighborhood you kind of know they're not firecrackers," said Ray Cole, who heard several gunshots at one time while he was in his office.

Police say at least one bullet nearly killed the bus driver. According to the police report, the bullet went through the driver's door and grazed her back - a relatively minor injury that police say could have been much worse.

"We were very fortunate that there were no children at the bus. The driver was in between routes so the bus was empty," Minneapolis Police Sgt. Tammy Diedrich said.

Full story.

Northsidewalks

2007-09-05T13:54:00.001-05:00

Spotted outside the Bean Scene, Penn and Broadway

1000 rally for peace in North

2007-05-23T07:01:00.000-05:00

As of last Saturday, 21 people -- mostly African American men -- have been killed in Minneapolis this year, and this pace of killing continues, 60 people will have been murdered by the year's end. On Saturday, the Peace Foundation and around 1,000 area residents rallied for support and in the spirit of putting a stop to it. Abdi Aynte at Minnesota Monitor reports.

Above: Doris Young, holding a photo of her son Sterling Horton, who was gunned down in North Minneapolis last year.

Uncle Bill's is condemned.

2007-05-23T06:56:00.000-05:00

Finally. Uncle Bill's, the convenience store at the corner of Penn and Sheridan and a locus of crime in Willard-Hay, has been condemned by the city and will shut down May 31, according to North News. Whether it stays closed -- and if so, what replaces it -- is another question.

Read more.

Update

2007-02-07T07:56:00.000-06:00

Hi folks,
As co-Star Stephan is in Brooklyn for the winter, and I'm bogged down with blogging at Minnesota Monitor and my own site, updates to The North Star will continue to be sporadic. If you'd like to see more regular posts on northside events and viewpoints, get involved: we welcome like-minded northsiders to join this blog. Leave a comment here if you'd like to be part of this site.

Thanks.
Paul

What the northside can learn from contrite killers

2007-01-12T20:57:00.000-06:00

With three murders committed during the first 11 days of this year, Minneapolis is on pace to quadruple last year’s 60 homicides. The brunt of the victims—and suspects—were African Americans.

Facing that grim statistic, around 150 people gathered at the Urban League in North Minneapolis Thursday night to not only keep the death toll down, but to let the youth know the immense consequences of a murder. So, they enlisted the help of four unusual experts: convicted murderers serving sentences at the Stillwater prison.

The four men, Adoniyah Israel, Joseph Spann, Leon Perry, and Vava Kuaddafi, all young and black, appeared with City Council member Don Samuels and Urban League president Clarence Hightower via video satellite uplink, and shared sometimes chilling, sometimes moving stories about their crimes, prison life, and the conditions that led to their incarceration.

While common threads emerged—all four were raised by single parents, all four were involved with gangs—the individual stories had the most power.

Kuaddafi, 38, says that of his 23 years in Minnesota, he spent 21 years in prison. He said that he’d been molested as a boy and that he merely wanted to “inflict pain, like it was done to me. I knew it was wrong, but someone had to pay for my pain…Gang life, that was my religion, and that’s how I lived,” he said.

Others recounted long idle periods and lack of supervision that led to an urge to do something, which often turned a crime.

Perry, 34, recalls endless hours he spent as a youth at North Commons’ Hospitality House. He said, “No one asked why we hung out there all day.”

Spann,30, said he was “a follower… a people pleaser.” His older brother was his role model. But when the brother stopped crimes, “I kept on going…. that led me to here.”

“Being poor, not having much, you want things: excitement, to be known, a reputation, to be popular.”

And Israel, 35, who lamented “ a lot of times these kids are out there raising themselves,” said that he was “carried away with the hype and glamour of things.”

The Solution?

All four men, who were repeatedly commended for coming out, said that they are in a better position to warn the youth of the menaces in the street.

Israel: “Parents: listen to young people about how they want to spend time. Figure out what’s important to these kids—ask them—and work from there. “

Kuaddafi: “Interrupt isolation. Don’t be angry. I was angry and arrogant person.”

Spann: “Know you’ve a purpose in life. Learn how to listen.”

Perry: Focus. Come up with a vision. Know God.”

That last statement drew a round of applause and “hallelujahs!”

The men said they often think—and express remorse—about their victims. Israel stabbed his girlfriend to death. Spann and Kuaddafi killed grocery clerks during separate robberies. Perry murdered an acquaintance in a parked car.

”Mending the nest”

The program was labeled “Mending the Nest,” a monthly discussion hosted by the Urban League. It was started by Urban League president Clarence Hightower after 16-year-old Courtney Brown was murdered over a sports jersey he was wearing.

The aim is to cut the homicide rate in half in 2007, reduce the number of African Americans going to prison by 20 percent, and increase the number of African American youth enrolled in both summer employment programs and post-secondary education.

Boise Jones, project manager at Pillsbury United Communities entrepreneur training program, said that 35 percent of those released from prison end up back in jail, not because they re-offend, but because they can’t meet the basic conditions of parole—to find stable work and housing within 30 to 60 days of release. His formula—“Increase opportunity, decrease crime”—would focus on these “institutional barriers” that prevent smooth reintegration for former prisoners.

Todd Barnes, a consultant with the Urban League, said that the purpose of the discussion was “high drama.”

“It’s how do you stop people from pulling the trigger.”

The message, he said, is a sense of hope: “Listen, process, come to the table when you’ve issues.”

Looking around the room, the mostly African American crowd was filled with familiar faces: Al Flowers, Spike Moss, Rev. Jerry McAfee, councilmember Betsy Hodges and MAD DADs founder VJ Smith, organizer James Everett, and Kim Ellison.

[This story was cowritten by Paul Schmelzer and Abdi Aynte for Minnesota Monitor. Image: Joseph Spann addresses the audience as MAD DADS members look on.]

Too close for comfort.

2006-11-10T09:13:00.000-06:00

This would be one block away:

An 18-year-old man was shot to death in north Minneapolis while riding in a car, police said today.
According to police: The driver of the car told police that the shooting occurred Thursday afternoon near Plymouth and Sheridan Avenues, when the victim was riding in a car.
Park Police saw the car driving erratically on Theodore Wirth Parkway. They followed the car to North Memorial Hospital.
The victim's identity has yet to be released. No suspects are in custody.
No word yet on a motive for the shooting.

Update: The victim was identified as 18-year-old Tou Vue.

Vote September 12: Primaries

2006-09-05T07:21:00.000-05:00

Tuesday, September 12 is primary voting day in Minnesota. Have your say on primary races for Governor, 5th Congressional District, Attorney General, and other important races. I'll post more on candidates and issues in the coming week.

Find your polling place.
Learn about absentee voting.

Homewood.

2006-09-05T07:16:00.000-05:00

Poet, painter, letterpress printer, activist, and (officially) retired teacher: our own George Roberts of Homewood Studios is spotlighted by Minnesota Public Radio. (Big oops: MPR refers to photographer Bill Cottman as Bill Cotwin.)

Teen murdered for jersey.

2006-09-05T07:15:00.000-05:00

Pioneer Press:

A 16-year-old was shot and killed Saturday in North Minneapolis after assailants attempted to steal sports jerseys he and his brother were wearing, police said Monday.

The teen, who would have started the new school year today at Edison High School, was walking with his younger brother when the two were accosted by a group of young men sitting on a front porch in the 3800 block of Lyndale Avenue North.

The group demanded the brothers' jerseys, and the victim, who has not yet been identified, was removing his when he was shot...

And more...

2006-09-03T22:48:00.000-05:00

• Kudos for Keith: Northside Congressional candidate and state rep. Keith Ellison got the nod from American Jewish World in an editorial that stated he "represents the progressive populist vision that Minnesota lost with the untimely passing of Paul Wellstone in 2002." And, Ellison's campaign airs a high-road online ad.

• Bleak weekend: a juvenile shot and killed on the 3800 block of Lyndale North; a man in his 20s was shot to death on Saturday near Caring and Sharing Hands; and a DFL House candidate was beaten while door-knocking near Broadway and Penn.

• RIP Qixing Lee: Lee, a 20-year-old from the northside was killed in Taji, Iraq, last week while on foot patrol. Lee has five siblings, and graduated from North High in 2004.

• Walk freely: The City Coucil voted down a measure that would've made alleyways restricted only to residents of a given block.

North notes

2006-08-28T08:07:00.000-05:00

Hi folks, things have been quiet around here, in part because I've added a new blogging gig: in addition to posting at the Walker blogs and Eyeteeth, I'm now a Center for Independent Media fellow, blogging at Minnesota Monitor. My beats include media criticism, money in politics, and, unofficially, northside issues. The project has hired some of the state's best progressive bloggers who are all cross-posting their original reporting on state elections, women's issues, the African community, political advertising, and concerns for greater Minnesota. Do check it out. In the meantime, another northside link dump:

• Racist Radio, part 2: I found a high-quality recording of the KQRS morning show's diatribe against the Twin Cities Hip Hop Festival, HOPE Community, and YO! The Movement. Click on "KQRS Remarks Regarding Hip Hop Fest (PART 1 ONE)."

• Dean Scene: Nice to see the neighborhood get some positive press for business development. Dean Rose and Lynda Baker are borrowing $250,000 to transform The Bean Scene into a full-fledged expanded-hours restaurant--and that it's part of a development boom on West Broadway.

• Vice Lords bust: The MPD reports that they arrested eight documented members of the Vice Lords, one of the gangs active in North Minneapolis, in investigations over the past 14 months. "Three assault rifles, 13 handguns, pounds of cocaine and two duffle bags of ammunition" were confiscated.

• Guardian Angels hit streets: A patrol of 32 red-bereted Guardian Angels will begin street patrols in North tomorrow night.

• Commentary: Craig Cox, "McAffee's street cred doesn't translate into change"

Guilt by association: Powerline on Ellison

2006-08-28T07:57:00.000-05:00

Tolerance isn't something you're likely to find at the conservative Twin Cities-based blog Powerline. When Army Capt. James Yee, a convert to Islam and former chaplain for "enemy combatants" at Guantanamo Bay, was arrested in 2003 on espionage charges, the blog dedicated two posts to the news. The first implied a link to Hitler's ideology: "[Yee] has said that Islam is a religion of peace and the term 'jihad' merely means 'to struggle.' Sort of like Kampf, I guess." Its author, John Hinderaker, added, "This story highlights the danger, obviously, of giving terrorists access to outsiders like clerics and lawyers"--a surprising view, considering Hinderaker's day job as an attorney. There's no hint of innocent-until-proven-guilty in his next post either, where he writes of "the treasonous James Yee, who was supplied with an endless supply of Muslim materials to facilitate his ministering to (or conspiring with) the terrorists at Guantanamo Bay." Had there been a third post, it should've been an apology--after being arrested, manacled, and held in solitary confinement for 76 days, all charges against Yee were dropped.

As Yee visits the Twin Cities to promote his book at an annual Muslim conference this week and attend an event for Muslim business leaders last Friday, it seems Powerline might again be leveling a guilt-by-association attack on another Muslim-American: 5th Congressional District candidate Keith Ellison.

Read the rest at Minnesota Monitor.

Samuels weighs in...

2006-08-23T20:19:00.000-05:00

Make that past-tense: Fifth Ward councilman Don Samuels wrote an opinion piece in the Star Tribune on August 19, showing his vantage point of the mayor's press conference that was disrupted by Al Flowers, Rev. McAfee, and others (see McAfee's rebuttal below). He calls Strib columnist Nick Coleman to task for showing "tolerance for inappropriate behavior from members of my community on the premise that that is how we do business." By this he means:

[T]he propping up of "community leaders" who have consistently demanded the stage to speak for the community over the last few decades, while delivering little. I also mean the endorsement of leaders who have convinced themselves of their cultural relevance. They simply "speak for us" from their delusional wellsprings of intuitive connectedness.

Harsh stuff, but as a northsider being told what "the community" wants by McAfee, who drives home to his Brooklyn Park house every night, I bristle a little at the exclusionary language of leaders like McAfee who define community with such skin-tone narrowness (I'm closer to the Liberian family next door than to any of the white residents on my block; my community is one of proximity as much, if not moreso, than race). Samuels continues, rebutting (prebutting?) some of the assertions McAfee made in today's opinion piece, about how Rybak swooped in, without consulting neighborhood leaders, before addressing this summer's crime wave:

Two weeks before that press conference, Mayor R.T. Rybak and I called a decidedly un-"splashy" meeting with about 35 North Side pastors to discuss how we might develop a strategy of outreach to parents and youths who have lost their way. McAfee was invited and attended. Yet when I made mention of that meeting at the press conference, he yelled back that he was not invited. That is the nature of the dialogue.
For the record, since that conference, I have received a number of e-mails and a dozen phone messages thanking me for taking a stern stand against the violence.
For the record: The mayor did not run. He finished his speech, as did the chief and as did I. He simply gave up on competing with Jerry for the mike after the official business was done. Also for the record, the mayor is a white man, and wisdom will tell you, it might not be prudent to indulge in a shouting match with a dramatic black preacher on West Broadway.
Finally, Coleman failed to mention the speech by a venerable North Side resident who went to the mike to challenge our two hecklers. She insisted they did not represent her views and that her priority was the safety of our residents. She was passionate, articulate and very black.

North notes

2006-08-22T20:57:00.000-05:00

• Challenging RT: Rev. Jerry McAfee tells Strib readers why he contronted R.T. Rybak. The gist: "[T]he mayor came to our community without any prior discussion of the "sweep" strategy. Yet when he took similar action in Uptown or Block E, he called in various representatives of those areas, outlined the plan and asked for input. Instead of working with us in the same way, he handpicks a few people who will rubber-stamp his plan and then anoints those people as "new and emerging leaders."

• Making a difference: In conveying the challenges of moving Asian Media Access to Willard-Hay, Ange Hwang employs the "Starfish Story."

• Ellison party Friday night: Join Ford Bell, Phil Willkie, Ron DeHarpporte, Ed Felien, and Tom Taylor at Spot Art in Northeast Minneapolis Friday night, August 25, for a party in honor of Congressional candidate and northsider Keith Ellison.

• Two from Eyeteeth: What's the downside of Minnesota's recently announced switch to touch-screen voting? And how is Norm Coleman cherrypicking poverty stats when he hails the tenth anniversary of Clinton's welfare reform law?

Home value tools

2006-08-18T13:26:00.000-05:00

MNSpeak points out a great tool for assessing your property's value: the city of Minneapolis has a searchable database of property sales, organized by neighborhood (you can also get a property tax estimate: whee!). You can also search by address and neighborhood at Zillow.com, or email an address with your cellphone or computer to z@labs.zillow.com to get an immediate estimate.

MNO: "Stop grandstanding, start working for peace"

2006-08-18T08:24:00.000-05:00

The Minneapolis Observer has an excellent editorial on recent goings-on in North, suggesting a different way to see the vocal and ever-present outrage of activists like Al Flowers and Rev. McAfee and the mayor's failed attempt at engaging with the northside black community. It concludes:

Anyone outside of the mainstream power structure has to create a stir in order to be noticed. Anyone outside the insular North Side black community has to create a program in order to be considered a serious player. So both sides are captive to a paradigm that has been shown to be less than effective over the past 40 years. And that--not the people involved--is what has to change before we’re going to see any progress in crime prevention on the North Side.
Yes, there have to be consequences for criminal behavior. And, yes, there have to be ways for government (in this case, the police) to understand the complex racial equations that govern the criminal justice system. But until people like Flowers and McAfee begin to expect the same accountability from the school board, from local corporations, and from North Side parents that they expect from City Hall, there’s going to be little progress.

A civilized North Side is not going to be created from stronger law enforcement any more than it will be found in more 1960s job programs. The only solution will emerge from private sector investment and commitments from parents, kids, clergy, and other individuals to creating a community worth embracing. In this sense, Council Member Don Samuels has the right idea: the black middle class needs to return to the North Side and with it a more comprehensive desire for peace and prosperity.

We’re not going to arrest ourselves out of the violence that’s contaminated North Minneapolis. Neither are we going to create opportunity for young black men by vilifying City Hall and the police. Jobs and investment are the keys to survival there--just as they are everywhere else in the city. The city has a role in making that happen; community leaders have a role, as well. It’s time they put aside their egos and political agendas and combined their talents for the common good.

North notes

2006-08-17T07:19:00.000-05:00

• Like our own Edible Schoolyard (a cooking and gardening program launched by Alice Waters in Berkley), Loring Elementary's Kids Cook gives northside youth a chance to show their mettle in the kitchen--and, now the garden. The class has taught basic cooking skills, but this summer they've planted "lettuce, bok choy, spinach, peas, radishes, potatoes, zucchini, squash, cabbage, peppers, onions, pumpkins, corn and quinoa, a South American grain." Image: one of the Kids Cook chefs.

• Minnesota Womens Press profiles Mercury Mosaics, a West Broadway tile and mosaic studio run by Tracy Fesler and Mercedes Austin. While they do commercial and residential work, they're also part of the community, working with Juxtaposition and neighborhood kids to install a mosaic tile piece on a 20-foot metal sculpture. "Too many times artists get caught up in their own world. We decided to look outside our door and think 'How are we going to create our community?'" says Fesler.

• One of this year's Ann Bancroft Awards for women role models goes to northsider Dr. Verna Cornelia Price, "whose Girls in Action project recruits women in leadership roles as mentors for girls at North High School in Minneapolis. The effort has helped to cut suspensions, fights and disruptive behavior by girls in half."

• Is the city putting the screws to northside homeowners, via the inspections department, under the guise of "cleaning up" bad neighborhoods? City Pages dedicates a cover story to the topic.

University Northside Partnership approved

2006-08-16T22:28:00.000-05:00

The results are in after Monday's vote on the University Northside Partnership: by a two-to-one margin, it was approved. (63% of Near North/Willard-Hay residents voted yes, while 75% of non-NRRC-area northsiders voted in favor.) This, despite the daylong presence of anti-UNP picketers yards from NRRC's door, and at least one report, by a Willard-Hay neighbor, of opponents corralling customers as they left the Mickey's Liquor parking lot and urging them to vote "no."

Results (click to enlarge):

Fighting violence with silence.

2006-08-14T17:52:00.000-05:00

KSTP TV covered the silent protest by 50 northsiders and friends on Saturday. Among those participating were Teaoni White, mother of Marcus White, the 19-year old gunned down at the site of the protest.

If you attended the vigil and would like to share photos, please email them to me: paul [at] eyeteeth.org. Thanks.

violence on the north side

2006-08-13T21:51:00.000-05:00

good citizens of the north side of Minneapolis, allow me to present for your reading some boring stats. Before I do, I'll moralize a bit about the necessity of stepping out of proscribed and prejudicial thinking, the fear that separates, the safety and security of impressions and the illusion of retibutive justice represented by the violence of the state on the one hand, and the violence of resentment represented by the gangs on the other. In my opinion, the whole mindset in reference to black gangs springs from these crippling frozen mindsets. This is a most violent country we live in and we are responsible, all. Here go the stats....
*Auto crash is the leading cause of death in the USA for people ages 6-28 and overall 46,000 people yearly. And co-incidentally, car emissions are directly responsible for killing 30,000 (2005 stat). A study by the Silicon Valley Bike co-alition shows that 3 out of 4 AT FAULT drivers were never cited for killing pedestrians. 22% of fatalities were hit and run yet none were ever found or charged. In NYC, around 80% of drivers were at fault for killing pedestrians and cyclists but 74% didn't even get a ticket. No doubt the same for Minneapolis.
*There are over 200,000 guns, almost 1 per family, in the USA. Gun safety is also not a priority. A 2003 gun safety report reveals that 20 of the nations 22 gun laws are not enforced. Convicted felons get guns because of inadequate record keeping, guns are procured on an opem market which is shielded by law, gun laws are not enforced...criminals sell guns with serial numbers obliterated, illegal trafficking, gun theft all go unpunished. FBI stats reveal 1.7 million guns stolen, only 40% recovered. Those guns were taken from cars and homes, in many cases by kids of owners. The American Medical Association reports that up to 50% of male 11th graders believe they can get a gun if they want to. The rate of firearm deaths in the USA among kids under age 15 is 12 times higher than in other industrialized countries. In one year, 3,012 children and teens were killed by gunfire...one child per three hours. Between 1979 and 2001, more children died from guns than cancer, pneumonia, influenza and HIVAIDS combined. Every day, 80 Americans die from gun violence according to the Co-alition to Stop Gun Violence.
*And to top it off, according to the NY Times, August 7th, 2006, 15 states in the last year have enacted laws that expand the right of self-defense allowing crime victims to use deadly force in situations that might formerly have been subjected to prosecution for murder.
To me, allowing guns and the police to be a security shield and blaming gangs is proscribed thinking that gets us to hell quicker. And vendettas against gangs nets a big zero accomplishment. We need more Stanley "Tookie" Williamses.. best to stay away from mainstream chaos that divides and seeks to blame everyone except the person in the mirror. All the tough guy, gotta win crap, from the top down, all use of violence from guns to words, all that separates and divides, that sets up an "us and them" conflict, must stop. Get rid of guns, and get out of cars.
Stephan

Vote Aug. 14: University Northside Partnership

2006-08-13T12:50:00.000-05:00

When it came up for a public vote last time, the University Northside Partnership--a campus planned for the corner of Penn and Plymouth that'll focus on family mental health, early childhood development, youth opportunities and business development services--was passed by an overwhelming margin of 41 to 4. Opponents deemed the vote "bogus" because of a misprint on flyers communicating about that vote. That revote has been rescheduled and input by neighbors is crucial:

University Northside Partnership Vote
Monday, August 14, 7 a.m to 7 p.m.
Northside Residents Redevelopment Council
1313 Plymouth Avenue North

A small group of vocal opponents--who can often be seen picketing near the proposed site--fear what kind of research will be done at the facility; they raise the spectre of the Tuskegee Institute's syphilis testing on African Americans (here's the UNP director's response to that allegation) as well as reneged development promises by other entities as reason to vote against the plan. My take: the plan should go through, but not without the continued input of neighborhood residents. And that's what's happening: The Northside Residents Redevelopment Council has brought together local activists and organizations including PICA Head Start, NorthPoint, Oak Park Neighborhood Center, Plymouth Christian Youth Center, Turning Point, the Minneapolis Public Housing Authority, and others to draw up a Community Benefits Agreement--the city's first--that'll legally require accountability and a long-lasting commitment to the community by the U of M. (NRRC makes minutes of these discussions available on its website.) While the project will bring jobs and university funding to an area that needs it (with the departure of Target, Kodak, and Time-Warner Cable, we could use new employment opportunities), it'll also bring a wealth of expertise to kids and families right here. Please take the time to vote.

Al Flowers: Don't target black gangs

2006-08-11T09:44:00.000-05:00

The northside residents I've been talking to have had enough and agree that the police should target whatever gangs are the most active and violent, regardless of the race of their members. Al Flowers and other northside activists vehemently disagree (Flowers to such an extent that he had to be physically restrained, while the crowd shouted down the mayor).

Said one person at yesterday's protest/press conference: "I know police can't ignore the gang problem, but they need to go after all the gangs. Not just the black gangs." I say, let's focus on the gangs who are killing our neighbors. Period.

Counterpoint: Dwight Hobbes' take, "Bad as we need the Minneapolis Police Department to end hell-bent gang activity that increasingly destroys law-abiding citizen’s lives, don’t make the mistake of believing it must done at absolutely any cost."

Your thoughts?

MPD targets three gangs

2006-08-10T07:41:00.000-05:00

I don't mean to make this into a crime blog, but this Strib story is interesting. The Minneapolis Police are targeting three particularly active northside gangs--Emerson Murder Boyz, 19 Block Dip Set, and Tre Tre Crips--who were responsible for Toua Xiong's murder (Tre Tre Crips were also reportedly behind the theft of more than 75 guns from Metro Pawn and Gun in Richfield in 2005). While some say focusing on gangs can lead to racial profiling of young black men, Roberta Englund, executive director of the Folwell Neighborhood Association, says, "I don't know what choice there is. We have all kinds of youth programs, and kids are still shooting at each other. We have to face up that these people engaged in violence are beyond are ability to help them. We can't hug them until they are good."

Another sobering section from the piece:

This year, 26 of the city's 41 homicides have been in the Fourth Precinct, which covers the North Side. Half of the guns seized in the city by police were recovered in the same area, Dolan said. Through mid-July, violent crime was up 50 percent compared with the same time last year in the Fourth Precinct.

Update: The Southeast Asian Community will hold a candlelight vigil for Toua Xiong, the murdered Pizza Hut delivery man, on Friday, August 11th starting at 8:30pm. The vigil will begin at the Pizza Hut on the corner of West Broadway and Girard Ave N.

Insight: call for writing on northside violence

2006-08-09T10:14:00.000-05:00

In response to Melissa's email (excerpted below), Al McFarlane of Insight News is asking for your responses to the violence in North Minneapolis. He writes:

I would like your help in gathering and publishing the voices of other members of our community who are grieving and angry about these and other acts of violence that are becoming to commonplace in our neighborhoods and families. If you know other teachers, family members, neighbors, kids, who have written something about this issue, or who would share their thoughts with Insight readers, would you ask them to contact me by email or by phone, 612-578-7181.

Remembering Toua...

2006-08-09T09:50:00.000-05:00

Melissa Borgmann has worked with neighborhood youth for years, through teaching at North High, her work with Teens Rock the Mic, and at St. Phillip's church. She taught two of the young people recently murdered around here: Marcus White and Toua Xiong. In an email asking for prayers for the neighborhood and the Xiong family, she described her former student, putting flesh and bone to the dry facts of news accounts of this killing:

This kid was so quiet. So sweet. Mid-height. Thin. So thin. So squeaky, squirmy, sitting next to this pack of Hmong boys in the back of my classroom with all their notebooks filled with car drawings, he was always drawing pictures and asking questions....Quiet questions. Needing to be near my elbow when he asked them. ....When we were doing that Midsummer Night's Dream Unit, he played Mustardseed, or some such precious, few-lined character...And to ensure he got a good grade, submitted all of these drawings of the characters as he had envisioned them....

And then when I lead the Teen Group at St. Phillips - he delivered our pizza one random Monday night..I remember this whole awkward struggle I had leaving him a tip....(I didn't add right, and he returned to the church basement to have me recalculate the amount I'd written in...I was so embarrassed...)

Please join us on Saturday for a silent protest against the violence in our neighborhood. Be there at 2:45, corner of Dupont and Broadway. Wear black, come with no affiliation, be prepared to be quiet for an hour. This event is not for the media.

Rerun.

2006-08-08T07:36:00.000-05:00

At the same address where Toua Xiong was murdered after delivering pizza, a man was shot in the leg by perpetrators he says broke in to rob him.

Update: A 20-year old man suspected in the murder of Xiong was arrested today at 15th and Newton North.

Murder #40.

2006-08-07T16:56:00.000-05:00

Sad:

A pizza delivery driver is the latest homicide victim in Minneapolis.

The city's 40th killing this year happened on the north side about 10:00 p.m. Sunday.

Minneapolis police say the man had just finished delivering to a near 29th and Colfax when he was gunned down in the street.

"It's just a tragedy. The guy is trying to make a living and make some money and he gets shot for no reason at all," Minneapolis Police Lieutenant Michael Sauro.

Officers are combing the area looking for suspects, but so far no one has been arrested. Several people did hear the shots but no one has reported seeing the shooting.

Police are trying to determine why someone would target the pizza driver.

The driver was working at the Pizza Hut at Broadway and Girard.

Police have not yet released his name.

Update: The victim was 20-year old Toua Xiong. The family has set up a memorial fund to help pay for funeral expenses:

Toua Xiong
Memorial Fund
C/O US Bank
1030 West Broadway
Minneapolis, Minnesota 55411

Racist radio.

2006-08-05T07:47:00.000-05:00

KQRS Morning Show dj's waxed racist yesterday, starting out a segment by asking, "OK, let's have a contest. How many crimes will happen and/or how many peeps will be shot at this Celebration of Hip Hop thing?" The wacky fun of mispronouncing hip hop act names, many of them African-American, devolved into what the Liberator calls "smile-in-your-face racism":

"Would it be okay if they had like a white... all music thing and they said it's..."

"A celebration of being white?"

"No! That's not okay Terri."

"Now Terry brought up something here Tom... a community center Hip Hop class..."

"Who runs the [Hope] community center?"

"Are community centers publicly funded?"

"Uh... church funded or publicly funded, yeah one of the two."

"I'm just curious if they're publicly funded?"

"If that's tax dollars?"

"Probably chuch funded I would think... for your Hip Hop class you mean? Umm... I'm going nine. Shots fired... nine."

"Haha!"

"I'm going nine. What's wrong with that? Over a three day period, are you kiddin me? It's only three a day!"

"Breakfast, lunch, dinner! Haha!"

Of course, for KQRS' Tom Barnard, this wouldn't be his first accusation of on-air racism. Contact KQRS station management here.

The Twin Cities Celebration of Hip Hop, sponsored by YO! The Movement, happens August 18-20.

North notes

2006-08-04T07:25:00.000-05:00

• New blogger: First off, welcome to Stephan, a painter, movement-theater artist, and street philosopher who splits his time between Willard-Hay and Brooklyn.

• Silent protest: Over half of the nearly 40 murders this year in Minneapolis have occurred in our neighborhood, including three on the corner of Broadway and Dupont. Tish at TruArtSpeaks invites us all to a silent protest at that corner from 3 to 4 pm on August 12 (arrive at 2:45). This is not an event for the media, just for us, she adds. Please drop by to give honor to those who have died and to protest: not one more life. (Thanks, Eliza.)

• Miss Rockaway: A band of artists and activists from New York, Seattle and San Francisco are building a flotilla of sustainably powered rafts that'll set sail tomorrow down the Mississippi. Their bike- and vegetable oil-powered vessels are being constructed now on a site just south of the Lowry bridge off Marshall. Read about it here.

• Not disaster prone: According to the website Sustainlane, Minnesota is tied for eighth safest when it comes to the risk of natural disasters.

• MN blogosphere: If you haven't seen it MNSpeak has a nice aggregator of Minnesota blogs, listed with the most recently updated first.

collateral damage

2006-08-03T13:32:00.000-05:00

so we good citizens, good folk
who'd never murder innocent people
never be caught carrying a gun, shooting rockets, dropping a nuclear bomb
that's for someone else, someone we disagree with in principle
on the 58th anniversary (metonymic), of the nuclear holocaust perpetrated by the US
against the innocents of Japan
that overwhelmingly sad day when humans were verifed useless fodder,
their suffering, paper and print
I give you this abbreviated poem by Hank Bukowski:

born into this
into a country where the jails are full and the madhouses empty
where the masses elevate fools into rich heroes
born into this
living and walking through this
dying because of this
castrated
debauched
we're born into this
there will be open and unpunished murder in the streets
it'll be guns and roving mobs
land will be useless
food will become a diminishing return
nuclear power will be taken over by the many
explosions will continually shake the earth
radiated men will eat the flesh of radiated men
the rotting bodies of men and animals will stink in the dark wind
and there will be the most beautiful silence
never heard
born out of that
the sun hidden there
waiting for the next chapter

Gentrification in North?

2006-08-01T20:17:00.000-05:00

As a guy who bought a house in north Minneapolis just two years ago, perhaps I'm not right to ask this question, but: Is North in the early stages of gentrification?

With the spike in violent crime this year, it'd seem no. But one project down the street, funded by the development wing of NRRC, may suggest otherwise. A condo block planned to open next fall on the corner of Sheridan and Plymouth boasts eight, beautifully designed, three-story artist live/work residences. The smart design features ground-level work spaces with garage doors (for gallery showings or venting fumes) and a tuck-under garage in back. Attracting a diversity of artists and art groups can help stabilize neighborhoods and provide economic resilience during economic downturns, as numerous studies have shown (see "The Artistic Dividend" and other reports at the Community Design Group).

As a writer who's marrying a sculptor, this kind of live/work arrangement is pretty attractive, especially when the family budget is too tight to afford studio rental and when kids are in our future. But these prices are simply unaffordable for us and for the majority of artists I know--$253,000 to $290,000 per unit. According to Zillow.com, only one house in the immediate vicinity costs more than the entry-level condo, and only when you get to the mansions of Farwell Park do the prices compare--for large homes on large lots (these units average around 1400 sf).

So, is the plan to attract people who are art hobbyists who have good-paying day jobs or to rely only on two-income artist couples or established families? And if so, does that impact a neighborhood the same way? Perhaps.

One problem with the site is the convenience store across the street, which remains a magnet for crime. My hope, though, is that this project moves forward, with some provisions for lower-income artists (subsidies aren't yet in the plans), and that with it comes some smart development that won't gentrify but will solidify the community. Neighborhood activists are hoping that the store across from the planned lofts might become a shop with fresh vegetables instead of Cheez Doodles. Asian Media Access has offices between the store and the Homewood/Plymouth Ave Art Studios block, and the Northside Food Project is still working to open a food cooperative--modeled not after pricey Whole Foods or Mississippi Market, but The People's Grocery in West Oakland, complete with nutrition classes, a community garden program, and the coop--and, to my knowledge, they haven't arrived at a site yet (pick Plymouth! It's reportedly the street where the Black Panthers opened the city's first food co-op in the 1960s!). These kinds of changes can hopefully help our neighborhoods stabilize and thrive without displacing all of us who already live here--and, in my case, those who came long before.

Related: A report by Macalester College students with the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis entitled "Gentrification in North Minneapolis," April 2006. And Radical Cartography's visual depiction of income distribution in major population centers shows that cities like Minneapolis don't have wealth "donuts" but wedges of concentrated poverty, including the one in North Minneapolis. And, if you're able, check out streaming video of Marxist geographer Neil Smith's talk at the Walker a few years back.

Learn more on the economic impact of the arts at the Community Arts Network.

Pointing North.

2006-08-01T14:51:00.000-05:00

In case you didn't realize it, there's a title for this blog, hidden in the field of black at the top left of the page (Correction: I guess it's just in Firefox that the orange bar doesn't show up). Drive around with your cursor and you'll find it--it'll light up. I think this is a glitch in the free blog template we're using (it's supposed to look like this), but I'm sticking with it because it seems an apt metaphor. Sometimes living in North, we've got to search around a bit to find the light, but when we do, it's so sweet. The blog title has its logic too: it's the translation of Minnesota's French state motto "L'etoille du Nord"; it's celestial, optimistic, and regionally specific; and, with that word "star," it has a populist, quasi-socialist (in an of-the-people way) feel to it. In fact, it's that last part that most inspired the title of this blog.

As I head home after work every day, I pass the statue of Minnesota's 22nd governor Floyd B. Olson at the corner of Penn and the highway that bears his name. Olson was a hero for working-class people back in the day. Born in North Minneapolis and educated at North High, he became governor at age 38 in the midst of the Depression. Unafraid to call himself a radical, he was a gifted orator (and often broadcast speeches on the radio) and railed against "the failure of government and our social system to function in the interests of the common happiness of the people" during the Depression. (No wonder the Taxpayers League started a petition in 2005 to change the name of Olson Memorial Highway to honor Ronald Reagan instead.) Now that the bronze bird that's supposed to be alighting on Floyd's finger has been swiped by vandals, perhaps this statue, like the hidden name of this blog, has a more fitting meaning. Maybe this blog, if enough of you get involved, can point north in new ways, just as the bronze man on Highway 55.

Minneapolis' record-breaking Nat'l Night Out

2006-07-31T21:56:00.000-05:00

This year, Minneapolis will break records nationwide for the most participants in a National Night Out: 1100+ separate block parties involving at least 2,058 blocks, with more than 56,000 people joining in.

Learn more at the City of Minneapolis' NNO site. National Night Out is tomorrow night, August 1.

On FLOW: Melissa Borgmann

2006-07-31T16:14:00.000-05:00

Writer, teacher, mentor, Juno Collective director, and St. Philips parishoner Melissa Borgmann, on her experience at FLOW Friday night:

"When, in my ten years of working/teaching/ praying/ producing/hanging out around the North Side, had I ever - I mean EVER - walked down West Broadway?"

The answer: Never.

Shame on me, but it's the truth.

But Friday evening created that opportunity, excuse, to get out of my vehicle, (even in that blasted heat,) and MOVE, See, EXAMINE, Smell, take in the whole thing.

Ann Shallbetter and I managed to mosey from Juxtaposition, across the street to the Bill-Cottman-photograph-covered-corner, over to the Cookie Cart, and in the process, something magical happened. I experienced the joy of being at street level. Not in my car. Not weaving around traffic. Not scanning for former students, or making mental note of recent Peace Vigil locations. Hmmhmmmm....I was people-watching, art-observing, question-contemplating the joy of that experience, the physical engagement with the concrete and windows and the street signs and the electric-lime-green arrows indicating which way to "FLOW."

I loved it.

Today I drove back. After mass at St. Philips, I made a new plan to grocery shop at Cub after church on sundays, (connect with the Joy Chaneys and Chi Vangs employed there), and contribute in some small way to the community, by simply shopping where my former students work....

The other part of my "post-Flow drive back," though, included a slowing down and stopping on the corner of Emerson and West Broadway. That Bill Cottman corner. I needed to look at one of his blown up black and white photographs again, and take note.

The tops of tennis shoes, astride railroad ties, rocks. This image of standing firmly facing a split sort of future path. I love this photograph. I have no idea if you know which one I mean, but I love it. Loved it on Friday night. Love that it's still up there today. And I loved that I wanted to go back and just LOOK at it. (Write Bill, even. Ask him where I could get a copy.?)

The picture to me seems so much like a visual metaphor for the whole FLOW/ Northside experience, and makes me ask questions:

Where do we find ourselves standing?
Where are our feet pointing?
Planted?
What direction are we going?
How rocky is this next step going to be?
Do we stay straddled, divided along certain lines?
Do we cross over on something?
Will there be trains?
Will we collide with anything?
Can we be transported someplace new?

I don't know. I am just thankful, grateful to all of you who made the evening come together. I am celebrating it still, on this Sunday night -
extending my questions, alongside some random thoughts, and giving thanks for how I got to see anew this community that I love, work, worship in...

Image: Bill Cottman's The Crossing: San Antonio (2004), mentioned by Melissa, includes this artist's statement: "Inspired by a suite of ten images by photographer Juan Miguel Ramos retelling the San Antonio urban legend of the 'ghost tracks.' According to the story, the spirits of children who died when a train collided with their school bus, will push your car over and past the tracks if you leave the car in neutral. Supported by Pangea World Theater, preparing for our performance, we traveled to San Antonio looking for Cactus in the Desert: people and places capable of sustaining life. The Crossing is one of those places and a daily reminder that we must enable our children to save us."

Minnesota's top polluters

2006-07-31T15:45:00.000-05:00

Of Minnesota's top polluters, I'm surprised that none of the worst 20 offenders are in North Minneapolis. The only local entry of note is across the river in northeast--Xcel Energy's Riverside Plant at 3100 Marshall Street NE--ranking tenth highest in the amount of chemicals it realeases into the environment. Here's the top 20 in ranking order:

Sherco Plant (Xcel Energy), Becker
Boswell Energy Center (Minnesota Power), Cohasset
Flint Hills Resources, Inver Grove Heights
3M Cottage Grove Center, Cottage Grove
Sappi Cloquet LLC, Cloquet
A.S. King Generating Plant (Xcel Energy), Bayport
Boise White Paper, LLC, International Falls
CHS Oilseed Processing, Mankato
MN Soybean Processors, Brewster
Riverside Plant (Xcel), Minneapolis
Rochester Public Utilities, Rochester
Larson Glastron Boats, Little Falls
Twin Cities Assembly Plant (Ford), St. Paul
Crown Food Packaging, Owatonna
Central Bi-Products, Redwood Falls
US Marine/Bayliner, Pipestone
ADM Co., Mankato
Gopher Resource Corp., Eagan
Taconite Harbor Energy, Schroeder
3M, Hutchinson

Download the 2004 Right-To-Know Chemical Information Report here.

Mark your calendar: TC Forum

2006-07-29T16:05:00.000-05:00

"Our brothers and sisters are being gunned down. It's time for a change."

Northside magazine The Liberator is hosting
Rest in Peace, A Twin Cities Community Forum
Saturday, August 19, 3 pm
First Avenue's 7th Street Entry

More from The Boards at Liberator Magazine.

Vigils this Sunday

2006-07-28T14:53:00.000-05:00

Two prayer vigils for recent crime victims will be held Sunday, July 30, 4-6 pm:

The first, for 17-year old Sterling Horten, will be held from 4 to 4:30 at 14th and Irving N.

The second, for Styles Monroe, from 4:45-5:15, will be held at 21st and Dupont N.

A third may be set up at 5:30, pending approval from the family of a third victim.

Community radio.

2006-07-25T08:23:00.000-05:00

In anticipation of the PEACE Games launch in a few days, and its art component, the art crawl FLOW, here's community activist and Black Bloggah Reggie Prim discussing health in the African American community and his recent trip to Kenya on KFAI; Sondra Hollinger Samuels, Peace Foundation head, is also featured on the episode of "Health Notes." Prim is one of the Walker Art Center staffers behind the northside photograhy project, Portraits of Peace, on view at the museum in conjunction with the PEACE Games August 4-10.

And, don't miss KFAI's Marya Morstad interviewing North resident and photographer Bill Cottman for Radio mnartists.

Facing North.

2006-07-24T21:20:00.000-05:00

My first summer in North Minneapolis, even though I was far from my country, I knew I could find a connection with children, just as I did in Thailand. One day last summer, at Willard Park I met these kids and, for the first time, felt close to the neighborhood I now call home.

Shop Lowry, quick!

2006-07-24T20:03:00.000-05:00

The reconstruction of Lowry Avenue may leave many businesses shuttered by the end of the month, says Tait Danielson Castillo, executive director of the Hawthorne Area Community Council. Unlike work on Lake Street in South Minneapolis, leaders didn't meet with northside business leaders to ensure that at least one lane would remain open during the construction, City Pages reports. Writes G.R. Anderson, "[T]hough the notion of rebuilding Lowry has been in the air for some 10 years, and a comprehensive plan was published in May 2002, shop owners say they had little more than a couple of weeks' notice before the construction started. More than that, people like Naylor wonder aloud if what they see as shoddy treatment would be happening if it weren't for the fact that the construction is affecting mainly minority business owners in a troubled part of town."

Street Signs: Plymouth & Upton

2006-07-24T08:05:00.000-05:00

"Where do you see peace?"

2006-07-23T19:34:00.000-05:00

Click for larger version. Via Northside Stories.

North News

2006-07-23T18:15:00.000-05:00

Flow: Mark your calendar, FLOW, a North Minneapolis art crawl, happens this Friday, from 6 to 10 pm. Details here. And don't miss the PEACE Games, also launching July 28.

"Crime magnet" closed: Low Cost Records at 1001 W. Broadway has been closed by the city due to repeat code violations and police calls; 19-year-old Marcus White was murdered nearby a week ago.

Suspect killed by police: Police killed a man at 33rd St. N. and 3rd Avenue Saturday night after they witnessed two men "making a hand-to-hand exchange involving what appeared to be a gun." The Star Tribune, and therfore probably the police, say nothing about the confrontation that lead to the man's death (who fired first, etc.). It was the second gun fatality in the neighborhood yesterday (in the first, a 29-year old man was shot through the window of his home on 35th and Newton).

Strib blogs: North gets its ink--and not in a good way--in the editors' blog at the Star Tribune. In back-to-back posts, editor Anders Gyllenhaal explains how a "peaceful weather photo" turned into "disturbing portrait of a crime" when a photojournalist heard the gunshots that killed Marcus White. The he explains the disproportionat number of stories in recent weeks about northside state Rep. Keith Ellison--his driving record, ties to the Nation of Islam, etc.--although none too well.

Welcome.

2006-07-23T15:51:00.000-05:00

Read the local paper, and the image you get of North Minneapolis is of gangs and violence, and maybe a hip-hop festival or two. The northside has so much more going on than that: more than 300 working artists, the fiercest neighborhood politics you'll find, radicals and conservatives, activists and clever oldsters, amazing homes and beautiful gardens, people from all around the world--even a few white folks. This blog of art, activism, news, and photography is here to show the other side of North.

If you live here and would like to contribute to this blog, email north.mpls@gmail.com.

Image: Penn and Broadway

The North Star

we're back

On hiatus

Two teens shot in the head

Gunshot hits Northside school bus

Northsidewalks

1000 rally for peace in North

Uncle Bill's is condemned.

Update

What the northside can learn from contrite killers

Too close for comfort.

Vote September 12: Primaries

Homewood.

Teen murdered for jersey.

And more...

North notes

Guilt by association: Powerline on Ellison

Samuels weighs in...

North notes

Home value tools

MNO: "Stop grandstanding, start working for peace"

North notes

University Northside Partnership approved

Fighting violence with silence.

violence on the north side

Vote Aug. 14: University Northside Partnership

University Northside Partnership VoteMonday, August 14, 7 a.m to 7 p.m.Northside Residents Redevelopment Council1313 Plymouth Avenue North

Al Flowers: Don't target black gangs

MPD targets three gangs

Insight: call for writing on northside violence

Remembering Toua...

Rerun.

Murder #40.

Racist radio.

North notes

collateral damage

Gentrification in North?

Pointing North.

Minneapolis' record-breaking Nat'l Night Out

On FLOW: Melissa Borgmann

Minnesota's top polluters

Mark your calendar: TC Forum

Vigils this Sunday

Community radio.

Facing North.

Shop Lowry, quick!

Street Signs: Plymouth & Upton

"Where do you see peace?"

North News

Welcome.

University Northside Partnership Vote
Monday, August 14, 7 a.m to 7 p.m.
Northside Residents Redevelopment Council
1313 Plymouth Avenue North