‘Commentary’ Archives
Raise Your Voice: A Fall From Grace
By PETER MOLENAAR Peter Molenaar Born to the Iron Range, once upon a time, Helvi Savola and Helen Kruth would, in their later years, take up residence in an apartment complex on the north edge of what is now Ventura Village. Peace and friendship with the Soviet Union was central to their vision of Peace on Earth. In Fact, they had been close associates of Elizabeth Gurley Flynn (the “Rebel Girl”) who, in 1916, had witnessed striking Mesabi Range miners being clubbed and shot. (Note: an historical marker which honored Elizabeth, was recently taken down by Republican Party operatives.)Believe it or not, the words above are intertwined with a somewhat violent event which took place recently at 4200 Cedar Ave., home to Women Against Military Madness. Medea Benjamin was in town! Medea has co-authored: War in Ukraine—Making Sense of a Senseless Conflict. Here is one review: “Careful, informal, judicious… an invaluable guide” —Noam Chomsky. Why then was Medea assaulted by [...]
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 [...]
