Author Archive
December Random alley News
By LINDSEY FENNER Photo courtesy of the American Swedish Institute. Tree delivery by horse-drawn cart next to Swan J. Turnblad residence, 26th Street, Minneapolis, Minnesota. Completed in 1908, the Swan J. Turnblad mansion was built in the French Chateauesque style. The house became the American Swedish Institute in 1929. Midtown Greenway Coalition Calls for Re-Do of Re-Paving Greenway: A section of the Midtown Greenway commuter bike trail was repaved by Minneapolis Public Works in October, but bikers are already calling for a re-do. According to the Midtown Greenway Coalition, a nonprofit group that advocates for the Greenway and Greenway users, the repaving has left the trail surface worse than it was before and created a safety hazard for users. Public Works has admitted they used a different resurfacing process, called “micropaving,” which cost a third of the 1.6 million budgeted for the project. The 5.5 mile bike and pedestrian route runs along the former Milwaukee [...]
Support the alley on Give to the Max Day! Thursday November 18th.
The Alley is the community newspaper of the Phillips Community in Minneapolis. We serve more than 20,000 residents, and many businesses, agencies, schools, and visitors to Phillips. Now in our 45th year of publication, we continue to be a forum of ideas, information, and announcements, all directed at the variety of individuals and groups who are part of this neighborhood. The Alley is the only paper to concentrate exclusively on the Phillips Community. This allows us to cover in-depth the issues and stories that matter to the people who live here. The Alley is a non-profit organization; our mission is to provide a place where voices that are often ignored by the mainstream media can be heard. The Alley counters the often negative portrayal of our community with the narrative of its residents that offer a more balanced documentation of the Phillips community. We encourage community involvement in all aspects of creating the paper. We want the voices of Phillips to be heard. If you are [...]
Movie Corner: Melvin Van Peebles
He's the ManMelvin Van Peebles (1932-2021) Melvin Van Peebles. Photo by John Matthew Smith By HOWARD McQUITTER II The African American filmmaker-actor Melvin Van Peebles, a fiercely independent filmmaker, could make memorable and remarkable films on a shoestring budget such as the 1971 bombshell film Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song about a Black pimp who kills two policemen for beating up a Black militant and how he eludes law enforcement. (His son Mario, is also an actor/director.) And with Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song, in particular, but in conjunction with his body of work (his directorial debut is Watermelon Man in Hollywood), the man is often known as the "Godfather of Black cinema". (The late Black director Gordon Parks is also a modern pioneer of Black cinema.) Mr. Melvin Van Peebles graduated from Ohio Wesleyan University with a B. A. in 1953. He decided to travel heavily in Europe, Mexico and the United States taking on jobs such as postal worker, painter, [...]
