Written by editor on 01 February 2010
By Peter Molenaar
Even as these words are written, another beneath the rubble has given up the ghost. The remaining resistance is fading”¦
Flashback to 1803. Given a plague of wars, Napoleon Bonaparte”'s France is a financial wreck. Concurrently, measures to maintain order in the lucrative sugar colony of Haiti are in jeopardy. Hence, the sale of some 828,000 square miles of “French territory” appears to be prudent (our own neighborhood is but a small parcel of this Louisiana Purchase). Every Haitian child knows the story.
Note: Following the logic of ancestral events, it appears that many of us owe our existence to the Haitian slave revolt!
Now see January 12, 2010. Nearly 12,000 registered nurses have volunteered for Haiti disaster relief””some 300 from Minnesota. They stand ready as the largest contingent of RN volunteers in U.S. history. National Nurses United is working around the clock to find deployment locations. “Medical facilities are completely overwhelmed”¦we are doing everything in our power to get these nurses engaged”, so states the NNU.
Time will tell. These nurses deserve a massive outpouring of respect from the whole of Organized Labor. They are the advanced guard of the moment. But the pitiful truth is, as of this writing, the logistics of deployment remain unresolved.… Read the rest “Moment of Silence”
Written by editor on 30 January 2010
By Raymond Jackson
Not only is Minneapolis in dire need of mentors for children, but cities throughout America are too. This is a need for all children, especially children of color and young boys. On Thursday December 10th, former editor of Essence magazine and founder of the National CARES Mentoring Movement, Ms. Susan Taylor, visited the Twin Cities to help launch the Minneapolis CARES Mentoring Movement. The Minneapolis CARES Mentoring Movement, founded by V.J. Smith, President of MAD DADS, an organization that reaches out to teens and young adults who are seeking alternatives to negative social interaction, is reaching out to the Twin Cities for help in locating mentors for the many parentless youth, searching for a brighter and more positive future. MAD DADS, Minneapolis Chapter, has existed for over ten years and has been very successful in turning lives around for the better! Mr. Smith says, “We are saving lives by helping young people not succumb to the negative forces around them! But we do need help in this effort, especially from men of color who have overcome the odds of not being successful. We need people to give just a few hours each month mentoring some of our children.”… Read the rest “WANTED: Male Mentors”
Written by editor on 18 January 2010
30 Years of Alley Newspapers in One Set of 13 Volumes awaits trip to Franklin Library to be available to the community; printed on good, book paper and bound hard-covers.
Bound for the Future has two meanings for the Alley Newspaper in 2010: First, it means that the first 30 years of The Alley Newspaper”'s issues are now reprinted on good quality book paper instead of lower quality newsprint paper, and the over 4,000 pages are bound into two sets of 13 hardcover volumes. One set is available to the public at the Central Library downtown on Hennepin Avenue and the other is available at the Franklin Library on Franklin Avenue. This making of The Alley”'s into hardcover volumes was initiated by the Hennepin County Library. Alley Communications, the nonprofit that produces The Alley Newspaper, began raising money to have another set at the Franklin Library. An Alley volunteer spent a couple of hundred hours compiling a complete set for the Library to use for reprinting. Subsequent to the printing completion, the Library was able to use some left-over funds to pay for the Franklin Library set. This allowed The Alley to redirect the funds donated to date and, instead, broaden the public accessibility effort.… Read the rest “The Alley is Bound for the Future”
Moment of Silence
By Peter Molenaar
Even as these words are written, another beneath the rubble has given up the ghost. The remaining resistance is fading”¦
Flashback to 1803. Given a plague of wars, Napoleon Bonaparte”'s France is a financial wreck. Concurrently, measures to maintain order in the lucrative sugar colony of Haiti are in jeopardy. Hence, the sale of some 828,000 square miles of “French territory” appears to be prudent (our own neighborhood is but a small parcel of this Louisiana Purchase). Every Haitian child knows the story.
Note: Following the logic of ancestral events, it appears that many of us owe our existence to the Haitian slave revolt!
Now see January 12, 2010. Nearly 12,000 registered nurses have volunteered for Haiti disaster relief””some 300 from Minnesota. They stand ready as the largest contingent of RN volunteers in U.S. history. National Nurses United is working around the clock to find deployment locations. “Medical facilities are completely overwhelmed”¦we are doing everything in our power to get these nurses engaged”, so states the NNU.
Time will tell. These nurses deserve a massive outpouring of respect from the whole of Organized Labor. They are the advanced guard of the moment. But the pitiful truth is, as of this writing, the logistics of deployment remain unresolved.… Read the rest “Moment of Silence”