‘Raise Your Voice’ Archives
Let’s get smart
Raise Your Voice By Peter Molenaar As it happened, I was assigned to do strike support work for the Anne Sullivan unit of the Minneapolis Federation of Teachers strike. ON STRIKE FOR LIVING WAGES, ON STRIKE FOR MENTAL HEALTH SUPPORTS, ON STRIKE FOR SAFE STABLE SCHOOLS… I would hold up these picket signs on behalf of those needing a break. 33rd and Lake Street was the site. The Sonora Grill was our sanctuary. Passing motorists registered their honks in support. From the standpoint of justice, our teachers are defending our schools from the threat of corporatization. Moreover, they demand adequate funding and respectful remuneration for mental health staffers. Why? Hey, our kids have been traumatized by a pandemic in combination with stark images of police brutality. Looking beyond… Harmoniously, it is the unionized sector of the nursing trades which advances MEDICARE FOR ALL. This program would eliminate the labor redundancies inherent in the regime of private [...]
Raise Your Voice
Silica Dust & Molten Iron By Peter Molenaar Upon retiring from Smith Foundry, this writer undertook distribution of the Alley to the various agencies and businesses of the Phillips Community and surrounding neighborhoods. In the realm of said distribution, a sometimes annoying competition for space exists with our friends from Southside Pride. However, of greater concern is Tony Bouza’s column in the February issue of that paper, How to get rich. “Capitalism is very cruel,” writes Bouza, “its only saving grace is that it accords with human nature… My reaction to such cruelty? Bravo!... Altruism doesn’t work … is this so complex?” “Look around you, for God’s sake. I didn’t invent it and I much rather socialism worked.” He appears even to slight Jesus for manifesting communistic proclivities! And then, “Stop kidding yourself… if you are so smart, why aren’t you rich?” Is the man being facetious? [...]
Raise Your Voice:
Headstone Markers By PETER MOLENAAR Note: the stone for my own “resting place" has been chosen, hopefully ahead of time. December 30, 2021… Readers of the alley know Sue Hunter Weir is this neighborhood’s “master of cemetery.” It was at the American Swedish Institute’s open house that we chatted while tabling for the paper. She was stunned to learn from me that Lynne Mayo had passed away in September of 2020. I had only just recently come to know this myself… no thanks to COVID. It was via the 17th Avenue Community Garden that Lynne had become a “significant friend” some 20+ years ago. As life went on, geography and our common activism created occasional encounters, the last one taking place at the Minneapolis Institute of Art, a venue that day for a global warming protest. Why had she turned her head away? I realize now that a cancer was developing. Hey, I am grateful for the imperfections [...]
