‘Commentary’ Archives
Re-Doing Lake Street
LETTER TO THE EDITOR By Shirley Heyer Metropolitan Transit continues its projects for improving bus service with a Lake Street Line B (Lake/Marshall/Selby/downtown St. Paul) fast bus. Work start is planned for this fall. Because longer wait times, increased walking distances, redesign of all traffic lanes are major changes, Midtown Phillips Neighborhood Association, Inc. (MPNAI) questions if the changes are equitable, necessary, beneficial, accessible, and include the Chicago Transit Station. Line B will make stops every 10 minutesLocal buses every 30 minutes, + 10 minutes leeway if late or earlyTraffic lane design varies from block to block; cross streets and less on-street parking can cause confusion, congestion MPNAI welcomes nearby neighborhoods, residents, workers, businesses, and organizations to 3 virtual engagements. Dates to come. Contacts: MPNAI shirleyconsults@gmail.comd_nestea@yahoo.comCody.Olson@metrotransit.org (He can send you a 15+ page PDF [...]
On Entering the Twilight Zone
RAISE YOUR VOICE By PETER MOLENAAR Peter Molenaar Sales of color televisions began in 1954, but it was not until September of 1961 that the premiere of Walt Disney”™s World of Color persuaded consumers to purchase color televisions. Having entered the realm of consciousness prior to ”™61, “baby boomers” like me now imbibe black and white reruns as a type of “food for the soul”. Indeed, we have existed long enough to relive The Twilight Zone. “The Twilight Zone is a place that exists at any moment of Time, of space or of mind”¦ but always when you least expect it. When you find yourself in this realm of unlimited possibility, be careful what you say or do. The right decisions may help you find your way back out”¦” Sunday, April 11, 2021”¦ Fading after a long day, before turning in I became aware that Daunte Wright had been killed. With apologies [...]
“Judas and the Black Messiah” and “Free Angela and All Political Prisoners”
SOMETHING I SAID By DWIGHT HOBBES Dwight Hobbes There are times you have to question how seriously black folk take our own history. Two examples are the films currently arching eyebrows, turning heads and topping just about everyone”™s must-see list, “Judas and the Black Messiah,” and 2012”™s “Free Angela and All Political Prisoners” (LionsgateDVD). When you consider what Fred Hampton, chair of the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense Illinois Chapter and iconic activist Angela Davis went through so the bourgeoisie could blithely change its tune from “We Will Overcome” to “I have overcome” it truly is saddening. The plain facts are that even in the 60”™s, while even middle class blacks rallied around Martin Luther King”™s social protest, freedom fighters like Hampton, Davis and Malcolm X weren”™t socially acceptable. They were too angry for assimilationists. Today, scores [...]
