Tales: September ’23
THEN and NOW:
Teen Gun Deaths Rob Lives, Devastate Shooters, Cause Individual and Community, Long-Term PTSD
Three accidental shooting victims at Cemetery
By SUE HUNTER WEIR
Glenn Phillips
On August 11, 1904, twelve-year-old Glenn Phillips shot and killed John Pala, his best friend. Everyone agreed that it was an accident. Just kids horsing around when Glenn pulled the trigger on a revolver and shot a boy who had been his friend for years.
The two boys were playing near the east end of the Franklin Avenue Bridge when another boy told them that he had hidden some candy from his father’s store in an outbuilding. The two boys went looking for it. Accounts about how and when Phillips got the gun differ. The Minneapolis Journal said that he found it in the outbuilding. The Minneapolis Tribune said that he had been carrying it around for several days, using it to shoot fish and birds. What was clear is that he pulled the trigger twice and that one bullet struck his friend in the head.
Glenn ran for help and the police and two doctors were summoned. The police got their first, placed John into a patrol wagon and headed for the City Hospital.… Read the rest “Tales: September ’23”
Banyan Community Celebrates 25 Years
By KRISITI JOHNSON, Banyan Community
This year, Banyan Community celebrates its 25th year in the Phillips neighborhood. Many things have changed in two and a half decades, but the key things have remained the same. Banyan Community recognizes that in order for children to thrive and ultimately graduate, go to post-secondary education and succeed as adults, whole families and the larger community MUST be connected and engaged.
Originally founded in 1998 by Tim and Joani Essenburg to provide safety for youth through a neighborhood block club, programming focused on conflict resolution and community building. In 2003 a formal afterschool program to support education was launched, serving 40 youth on one block. 2006 marked the first high school graduate! Expanding its reach, in 2009 the Lighthouse Network block club was founded, growing the service area to five blocks.
As Banyan grew, three different addresses served as gathering places until finally, in 2016, a new home was built at 2526 13th Ave S. Given the assets of the new building, in 2018 programming was expanded beyond youth to the entire community. Classes for adults of all ages were added to the calendar.
Also completed in 2018 was a research study by the Wilder Foundation that found Banyan’s societal return on investment had a benefit:cost ratio of 8:1.… Read the rest “Banyan Community Celebrates 25 Years”
Something I Said: September ’23
Black Women Changing the Narrative on Film
By DWIGHT HOBBES
Perception may not be all but it is important, and black girls need to perceive as positive a self-image as possible. Not that they are any more special than anyone else. They just face their own set of circumstances.
You’ve got reality shows about as far from real life wives as here to the moon, attitudinal self-absorbed glamour gals who think they do the world a favor by breathing. You’ve got dumb as a bag of rocks ghetto-style gals on stereotypical sitcoms. At length, entertainment media has a serious lack of role models that inspire personal strength. Those that come along are few and far in-between.
For instance, The Woman King is based on Africa’s actual amazons, never mind Wonder Woman. They comprised the Agoji, an elite Dahomey fighting force formed in the early 1700’s. No sooner was it released than nay-sayers carped that it wasn’t wholly accurate. King Ghezo, unlike his depiction in the script, wasn’t morally opposed to slavery. So? This is like being given water to slake your thirst for knowledge and complaining about no ice. Yes, he was, like most kingdoms, prone to war and trafficked in slavery.… Read the rest “Something I Said: September ’23”