Community

Year of the History-Makers

MINNESOTA SPOKESMAN-RECORDER — 2018 proved to be the year of history-makers for African Americans across the country, and Minnesota, in particular.

Published

6 years ago

January 3, 2019

Oakland Post

By Stephenetta (isis) Harmon

2018 proved to be the year of history-makers for African Americans across the country, and Minnesota, in particular. From landmark elections and groundbreaking appointments to Hall of Famers and historical institutions, the MSR was on the frontlines covering Black Minnesota as it positioned itself for sweeping change.

Political firsts

While politicians across the country aimed for blue and red to color the 2018 midterm elections, it was a decidedly Black wave that will impact the 2019 landscape.

And Black voters showed up and showed out across the country, even helping to push historically red states and seats closer towards the blue line.

The election was full of historic wins, especially right here in Minnesota.

Among the political firsts, Keith Ellison took home the prize as the first African American elected attorney general or any statewide office in Minnesota. Winning Ellison’s former seat, Ilhan Omar is set to be the first-ever Somali American to serve in Congress.

Medaria Arradondo, Minneapolis’ first Black chief of police, was appointed to serve his first full term in 2019. And, let’s not forget Melvin Carter III who kicked off his historic term in January as St. Paul’s first-ever Black mayor.

There was also an increase in Black representation and wins across all levels, from city councils to school boards, as well as beyond the Twin Cities. Angela Conley is the first Black person to be elected to serve on the Hennepin County board of commissioners. After an appointment by outgoing Gov. Mark Dayton, Judge Juanita Freeman will be the first Black district judge to serve in Washington County. And Mike Elliott will be the first Liberian American to serve as mayor of Brooklyn Center.

History makers

This year’s history-makers also include longtime teacher Tonyus Chavers, who played on one of the eight original Women’s Professional Basketball League teams. She was inducted into its Hall of Fame as a “Trailblazer of the Game.”

Brittany Baker, graduated as St. Paul’s first Black woman firefighter in 10 years; Nerita Hughes became North Hennepin Technical College first African American dean, and the Minnesota African American Heritage Museum and Gallery was the first of its kind to open its doors in the Twin Cities this past September.

While it wasn’t necessarily history-making, Minnesota did show a marked increase in diversity while hosting this year’s Super Bowl as compared to when it last hosted in 1992.

Buried history

In the midst of highlighting our communities, the MSR even unearthed Black history at Pioneers and Soldiers Memorial Cemetery, Minneapolis’ oldest cemetery, which holds the remains of John W. Cheatham, the first African American firefighter in Minneapolis; Morgan Jones, a former slave of a Virginia tobacco field who moved to Minnesota after gaining his freedom; and William C. Goodridge, who was born slave in 1806, freed by age 16 and started his first business — a barbershop — at 18 years old.

A look to the future

While all of these firsts signal a welcome wave of change in Minnesota, our communities still face persistent racial disparities, which led to the Twin Cities being named the fourth worst place to live in the country. But, leaders are poised and hopeful for change.

“We’ve got strong leadership at the director levels of all of these critical areas, [from] social work to human services to health to public safety,” said Alex Tittle, Hennepin County Disparity Reduction Director. “This next group of commissioners, new leadership, attorney general, Chief Rondo — you’ve got a ton of people who are at the table who are focused and cognizant of the issues and they’re smart enough and they’re in leadership positions.

“If we can’t deal with this right now with who we’ve got in place, shame on us. The World, the county, the community is depending us to do it right, [and] we’re positioned to do it.”

This article originally appeared in the Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder.

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Oakland Post: Week of December 25 – 31, 2024

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of December 25 – 31, 2024

Published

2 days ago

December 26, 2024

Oakland Post

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Bay Area

Glydways Breaking Ground on 14-Acre Demonstration Facility at Hilltop Mall

Glydways has been testing its technology at CCTA’s GoMentum Station in Concord for several years. The company plans to install an ambitious 28-mile Autonomous Transit Network in East Contra Costa County. The new Richmond facility will be strategically positioned near that project, according to Glydways.

Published

4 days ago

December 24, 2024

Oakland Post

Image of planned Richmond facility courtesy of Glydways.

The Richmond Standard

Glydways, developer of microtransit systems using autonomous, small-scale vehicles, is breaking ground on a 14-acre Development and Demonstration Facility at the former Hilltop Mall property in Richmond, the Contra Costa Transportation Authority (CCTA) reported on social media.

Glydways, which released a statement announcing the project Monday, is using the site while the mall property undergoes a larger redevelopment.

“In the interim, Glydways will use a portion of the property to showcase its technology and conduct safety and reliability testing,” the company said.

The new Richmond development hub will include “over a mile of dedicated test track, enabling Glydways to refine its solutions in a controlled environment while simulating real-world conditions,” the company said.

Visitors to the facility will be able to experience on-demand travel, explore the control center and visit a showroom featuring virtual reality demonstrations of Glydways projects worldwide.

The hub will also house a 13,000-square-foot maintenance and storage facility to service the growing fleet of Glydcars.

“With this new facility [at the former Hilltop Mall property], we’re giving the public a glimpse of the future, where people can experience ultra-quiet, on-demand transit—just like hailing a rideshare, but with the reliability and affordability of public transit,” said Tim Haile, executive director of CCTA.

Janet Galvez, vice president and investment officer at Prologis, owner of the Hilltop Mall property, said her company is “thrilled” to provide space for Glydways and is continuing to work with the city on future redevelopment plans for the broader mall property.

Richmond City Manager Shasa Curl added that Glydways’ presence “will not only help test new transit solutions but also activate the former Mall site while preparation and finalization of the Hilltop Horizon Specific Plan is underway.

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Alameda County

Last City Council Meeting of the Year Ends on Sour Note with Big Budget Cuts

In a five to one vote, with Councilmembers Carroll Fife and Janani Ramachandran excused, the council passed a plan aimed at balancing the $130 million deficit the city is facing. Noel Gallo voted against the plan, previously citing concerns over public safety cuts, while Nikki Fortunato-Bas, Treva Reid, Rebecca Kaplan, Kevin Jenkins, and Dan Kalb voted in agreement with the plan.

Published

4 days ago

December 24, 2024

Oakland Post

Oakland City Council voted on a plan to balance the $130 million deficit at their last regular meeting of 2024. The plan reduces police spending by $25 million, temporarily closes two fire stations, and guts the cultural arts programs. iStock photo.

By Magaly Muñoz

In the last lengthy Tuesday meeting of the Oakland City Council for 2024, residents expressed strong opposition to the much needed budget cuts before a change in leadership was finalized with the certification of election results.

Oakland police and fire departments, the ambassador program, and city arts and culture will all see significant cuts over the course of two phases.

Phase 1 will eliminate two police academies, brown out two fire stations, eliminate the ambassador program, and reduce police overtime by nearly $25 million. These, with several other cuts across departments, aim to save the city $60 million. In addition, the council simultaneously approved to transfer restricted funds into its general purpose fund, amounting to over $40 million.

Phase 2 includes additional fire station brownouts and the elimination of 91 jobs, aiming to recover almost $16 million in order to balance the rest of the budget.

Several organizations and residents spoke out at the meeting in hopes of swaying the council to not make cuts to their programs.

East Oakland Senior Center volunteers and members, and homeless advocates, filled the plaza just outside of City Hall with rallies to show their disapproval of the new budget plan. Senior residents told the council to “remember that you’ll get old too” and that disturbing their resources will only bring problems for an already struggling community.

While city staff announced that there would not be complete cuts to senior center facilities, there would be significant reductions to staff and possibly inter-program services down the line.

Exiting council member and interim mayor Bas told the public that she is still hopeful that the one-time $125 million Coliseum sale deal will proceed in the near future so that the city would not have to continue with drastic cuts. The deal was intended to save the city for fiscal year 2024-25, but a hold up at the county level has paused any progress and therefore millions of dollars in funds Oakland desperately needs.

The Coliseum sale has been a contentious one. Residents and city leaders were originally against using the deal as a way to balance the budget, citing doubts about the sellers, the African American Sports and Entertainment Group’s (AASEG), ability to complete the deal. Council members Reid, Ramachandran, and Gallo have called several emergency meetings to understand where the first installments of the sale are, with little to no answers.

Bas added that as the new Alameda County Supervisor for D5, a position she starts in a few weeks, she will do everything in her power to push the Coliseum sale along.

The city is also considering a sales tax measure to put on the special election ballot on April 15, 2025, which will also serve as an election to fill the now vacant D2 and mayor positions. The tax increase would raise approximately $29 million annually for Oakland, allowing the city to gain much-needed revenue for the next two-year budget.

The council will discuss the possible sales tax measure on January 9.