Author Archive
Tales from Pioneers and Soldiers Memorial Cemetery: #211
No Justice for Martha By SUE HUNTER WEIR On September 9, 2012, the University of Minnesota hosted a dedication ceremony to honor the 250 adults who served as research subjects for medical students in the years 1914-1916.The University provided a marker in their memory. Photo: Tim McCall Gilbert Seashore, the Hennepin County Coroner, ruled Martha Rossa’s death as an “intentional homicide.” But despite the fact that Nick Piritano, the man who shot her, confessed, her case never went to trial. Instead, the county prosecutor devoted his efforts to prosecuting Piritano for killing Nick Bruno, a man who was in the same house as Martha on the night that she died.The transcripts of Piritano’s trials, both of them for the murder of Bruno, appear to no longer exist. And newspaper accounts about what happened on the night of May 5, 1913, are confusing and contradictory at best.What is known is that on that evening she was at the home of Nick Piritano. The papers referred to her [...]
Food is the Great Unifier
By DANETTE BILLUPS Outside, a woman sits on a bench and has her wagon. She is waiting for this week’s free meals to be delivered. She feels fortunate to be part of the program offering the meals. When her food box is delivered, she quickly opens it to see what is inside: Swiss chard, ground turkey, canned beans, grits, tomatoes, and bell peppers! What a lovely surprise! And she received a bonus: there are two recipe cards in the box as well! She hurries inside with her food and tells everyone in sight about what she has received for the week.At the community meet and greet, community members come together to see who is new in the neighborhood. There is a nice spread of food on the tables. Across the street, there is a city bus, covered with pictures of food. It is the Twin Cities Mobile Market! The Mobile Market visits different locations in the Phillips neighborhood, bringing the grocery store to the community. People shop for their weekly food and chat afterwards about what’s [...]
Something I Said: Juneteenth
By DWIGHT HOBBES Dwight Hobbes This month, across America and a few other places around the world, black folk plan to jump for joy at Juneteenth celebrations of freedom from slavery. There’s a bittersweet aspect to that.The sweet, of course, is liberation. Early revelry presented opportunities for political rallies to give voting instructions to newly freed African Americans. Also, baseball games, fishing, rodeos, street fairs and, of course, cookouts. Much later, black people tied the holiday to fighting for civil rights. In 1968, called by Dr. Martin Luther King and, after his assassination, led by Rev. Ralph Abernathy and Coretta Scott King, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference made June 19 the Solidarity Day of the Poor People’s Campaign. Nowadays, in addition to a good time outdoors, there’s teaching African-American heritage, arts and literature showcases, and more. As Karen M. Thomas intoned in Emerge, “Community leaders have latched on to to help instill [...]
