Frank Reflections – June 2017

BY FRANK ERICKSON

I asked Minneapolis City Attorney Susan Segal about these rising rent costs in the Twin Cities.  Her response was, “the rising costs of rent are based on what the market will bear.”

How absurd and cruel to believe that the payment of an ever increasing rental amount is an affordable and “bearable” amount—simply because it was paid. Many of us renters will cut back on food, medical care, and turning on the heat because the money is needed for a higher rent.

Even if they can”'t afford it, renters will find a way to pay rent; the roof over your head always comes first.  But even if you go hungry, the paying of your rent is seen as what “the market will bear.”Â  Capitalism is beyond sick, it allows humans to not be human”¦ “I”'m not greedy or wicked it is what the market will bear.”

Landlords hold renters hostage.  Hey all raise their rents simultaneously to a “market value” rent. Where are renters to go?  There is no place to go.  They practice collusion, they band together, and you pay the “market value” extortion rate or live under a bridge.

If you don”'t pay, the sheriff will help you move out.… Read the rest “Frank Reflections – June 2017”

Amos Yancy: A Slave, A Soldier, A Free Man.

Amos Yancy learned of the formation of colored regiments in Missouri (perhaps from an advertisement like the one above) and must have realized that this would be his opportunity to escape the bonds of slavery. On May 30, 1864, at the age of 18 years, Amos enlisted in the 18th Regiment U.S. Colored Troops as noted on the Enlisted card, right; thus guaranteeing his freedom at the end of his service.

By Timothy McCall, Guest columnist

From its inception, the Minneapolis Pioneers and Soldiers Memorial Cemetery has been a non-denominational, racially integrated cemetery. A racially integrated cemetery in the early 1860”'s, was not a common occurrence. While we don”'t have a precise count on the number of African-Americans buried here (an ongoing project), undoubtedly, there are more than a few that were ex-slaves. One such person recently re-discovered is Amos Yancy.

Amos was born into slavery, escaped to fight in the Civil War, came to Minnesota in search of a better life for his small family and died here, a free man.… Read the rest “Amos Yancy: A Slave, A Soldier, A Free Man.”