Southside Pride

	Phillips/Powderhorn Nokomis Riverside

February 2013

Nokomis :

The Sami are coming!

BY ED FELIEN

There are three flags flying at the American Swedish Institute (ASI) these days.

Alongside the American and Swedish flags is a rainbow colored red, blue, yellow and green flag of the Sami people. The native Sami language is part of the Uralic family that includes Finnish and Hungarian, two areas where many Mongol tribes settled after sweeping through Europe in the 13th century. The Mongols had learned about gunpowder from the Chinese, and they were quite accomplished horsemen—travelling thousands of miles from the Mongolian plains to the North Atlantic. With the advantages of light cavalry and firepower, they defeated every army in their path, but in December of 1241 the Great Khan died and the princes that had led the European invasion returned to Mongolia to elect a new Khan.

Crime Report

From Friday, Feb. 1, through Sunday, Feb. 3, three juveniles, ages 14, 15 and 16, terrorized South Minneapolis by robbing victims with a replica handgun. One of the incidents happened on Minnehaha Parkway. They were arrested on their 13th attempt at 7:05 p.m. Sunday.

Racist incident at Washburn

BY ED FELIEN

On Wednesday, Jan. 23, Washburn High held a community meeting to discuss a shocking racist incident that happened at the school on Jan. 11 when four students hung a dark skinned doll from a string in a stairwell.

Denise Bunkert’s Art of Healing

BY JANET CONTURSI

Thirteen years ago Denise Bunkert made a life-changing decision. What happened to her happens occasionally to all of us, but we rarely take the time to notice: Driving to work one especially beautiful morning, Denise saw the sun coming across a field, and was moved to tears. It was a simple, yet profound moment in which she knew she had to be outside painting. So, after 15 years working in graphic design, publishing and education, she decided to make painting her life’s work.

Cancel all debts and redistribute the land

By Debra Ramage

According to David Graeber, “Cancel all debts and redistribute the land” was the program of every revolution from ancient times up to the birth of mercantile capitalism. In the introduction to Graeber’s book “Debt: The First 5000 Years,”
he describes a scene at a fundraising party in Westminster. He is discussing his international anti-poverty work with a woman who works for a domestic anti-poverty charity. He explains about the predatory lending to corrupt leaders of impoverished nations and what devastation it has wrought, and she asks him what he believes should be done. The IMF must be abolished and the debts cancelled he tells her, and to his consternation this good lady says, “But they borrowed the money. Surely, everyone has to pay back their debts?” Snap! I had almost this exact thing happen to me—twice—in acknowledged leftist circles here in the Twin Cities when I suggested that perhaps not all student borrowers DO have a moral obligation to pay back their debts.

Wounded Knee

FROM AN UPCOMING BIOGRAPHY OF KEN AND RACHEL TILSEN (UNTITLED) BY DAVID TILSEN

February 27, 1973
The Pine Ridge Reservation in southwestern South Dakota has never been an easy place to live. Although larger than several states, it is a small remnant of the territory negotiated in the Ft. Laramie Treaty of 1873, as almost any resident could tell you. In 1973, its unemployment rate was between 75% and 90% depending on who measured it. Alcoholism, murder, suicide, domestic abuse, poverty and hopelessness were rampant. This was the poorest county in the United States, where very few homes had telephones, televisions, newspapers or regular news of any kind.

Eyewitness Account

STORY BY MADONNA THUNDERHAWK (who was about 27 during Wounded Knee)

So we’re in Wounded Knee, and the firefights are getting heavy, and we knew they were bringing in APCs and they were bringing in the heavy artillery. We heard. The news came, the moccasin grapevine, that we had some attorneys, some lawyers that were coming in, and there was some negotiations going on.

The hungry insurgent

BY CHARLEY UNDERWOOD

When the weather gets cold, one thing growers sometimes do is go to conferences. The other day, I went up to St. Cloud to see what was up with the Minnesota Fruit and Vegetable Growers. The most interesting talk for me was listening to a bunch of apple growers talk about climate change. Now understand this: You are pretty careful to avoid the terms “climate change” or “global warming” when you talk to groups of farmers, because some of them think the whole thing is a big conspiracy so Al Gore can heat his Nashville mansion or so some university climate scientists can get bigger research grants and sell more books. They think global warming is a political question, not a science question.

Zero Dark Thirty, a horror film

BY ED FELIEN

Spoiler alert: the film sucks.

Kathryn Bigelow’s “Zero Dark Thirty” spends almost the first hour of her two-and-a-half hour film showing the torture of an Arab prisoner by the CIA. The film begins with a dark screen and the taped conversations of people about to be incinerated in the Twin Towers on Sept. 11, 2001. The torture is justified throughout the film as revenge for the “3,000 innocent lives” lost on 9/11. When that begins to dry up, the wellspring of vengeance is refreshed by the murder of CIA operatives in a suicide bombing.

One Billion Rising to End Violence Against Women

This Valentine’s Day will be different. The world will change.

We are inviting women and those who love them to WALK OUT, DANCE, RISE UP, and DEMAND an end to this violence. ONE BILLION RISING will move the earth, activating women and men across every country. V-Day wants the world to see our collective strength, our numbers, our solidarity across borders.

Please join us in Powderhorn Park from 6:30-8:30 p.m. on Feb. 14, for a march, live music, activist speakers, hot drinks and food, and dance in memory of Jyoti Singh Pandey, a student in Delhi, India, who was brutally raped and later died on Dec. 16, 2012. We will also be assembling to express our stand against all forms of violence against women in all communities.

Live Music: Oya’s Radio. Powderhorn Park Community Center is located at 3400 15th Ave. S.

A modest proposal for cutting the federal budget by eliminating unnecessary, wasteful and redundant military bases

BY ED FELIEN

Last year the Department of Defense (DoD) proposed to downsize the reserve component of the Air Force, but Congress, always protective of local pork, resisted the cuts. If the Republicans are truly serious about eliminating waste in government spending, then here’s a couple of good places to start:

February

Nokomis Community Calendar

Announcements

Falls 4 All Playground to be Built Next Spring
Plans are being finalized for the first Universally Accessible playground in the Minneapolis Park System. With the help of therapists from the Courage Center and Minneapolis Public Schools, the playground concept is nearly complete. This means all of our children, regardless of ability, will have a safe, fun, accessible place to learn new skills, challenge themselves, explore, interact and play, with independence and dignity, as a group and as individuals.

Nokomis Religious Calendar

Announcements

St. Helena’s Jane Hileman Named Among Top 12 Principals in the Nation
St. Helena Catholic School, located in South Minneapolis, is often described as the neighborhood’s “best kept secret.” Thanks to the vision and dedication of Principal Jane Hileman, the “secret” is out. Every year the National Catholic Educational Association (NCEA) chooses 12 principals from a pool of more than 6,000 throughout the country. Hileman will accept her award this April at the NCEA 2013 Convention & Expo held in Houston, Texas.