‘Commentary’ Archives
From the Desk of State Representative Hodan Hassan
Hodan Hassan By HODAN HASSAN, District: 62B Hi neighbors, State Representative Hodan Hassan here. It is an honor and privilege to represent you at the State Capitol as your House Representative. For some of you, I have been your representative for the last four years; for others, I am your new representative because of recent district boundary changes. These changes now include Phillips as part of district 62B. I want to take this time to introduce myself and the work I intend to do for you in the next two years. By trade, I am a social worker and a mental health clinician who found herself in politics when I saw a need in my community for strong representation. I am a mother of two wonderful kids, my youngest being three years old. So when I say I understand the struggles our families are facing with childcare expenses skyrocketing, food prices being unreasonable, and gas prices out of reach, it is an understatement. After weathering the worst of the COVID pandemic, the [...]
Raise Your Voice: The Fusion Dance of MLK
Peter Molenaar By PETER MOLENAAR January 16, 2023… The MLK Day observance at the Powderhorn Park Community Center was a marvelous production. Tabatha, thank you so much for having mastered the ceremony straight from your heart. Oh, but it was the children who stole the show with spontaneous dance and gymnastic display. On the other hand, the two young women who performed a choreographed Afro-fusion dance blew me away. Then, to close the show, there was our own Brass Solidarity Band. Wow! One sour note: A young man had managed to insert himself ahead of the main program. He read on and on (and on) from a cell phone script (hmm) intent upon casting aspersions at Dr. King. Indeed, he asserted that Martin had been under the influence of “white liberals”. (Oh my!) Moral means to moral ends? To be sure, “everything depends on conditions, time, and place”. Hey, a strategic conception must make a connection to [...]
SOMETHING I SAID: The Animal Factory
Book Review By DWIGHT HOBBES Dwight Hobbes Rule of thumb goes, the book’s better than the movie. Edward Bunker’s The Animal Factory (St. Martin’s Minotaur) and Franchise Pictures is a tossup. Both are brilliant. The novel’s narrative is fluid, with compelling immediacy. Co-screenwriter John Steppling teams with Bunker for an ingenious adaptation. Bunker (Education of a Felon: A Memoir /St. Martin's Griffin,) made his way from the wrong side of the law to a career as screenwriter-actor (Animal Factory, Straight Time). He was “Mr. Blue” in Quentin Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs. Franchise Pictures The Animal Factory protagonist, 20-something, privileged Ron Decker is slapped in prison so the judge can stand hard on white offenders, not just criminals of color. Never mind that Decker, no angel for sure, dealt weed and coke, but this is his first bust. He’s a politically correct scapegoat. Street spawned, veteran of incarceration Earl Boen takes him [...]
