 |
|
| mission. subscribe. live. blogs. study. visualart. music. film. store. advertise. contribute. contact. |
|
Liberator 4.2 |
 Sometimes in our lives we as citizens of America and the plush city of 10,000 lakes where everybody is so open minded and free to be different, are often too busy to do those one types of things, you know, community meetings and other forms of gathering bobble heads. But our city is facing a severe situation that must be addressed by the whole city. In the fall of 2002 Minneapolis witnessed one of the cities biggest political upsets when Natalie Johnson Lee ousted the long-term City council President Jackie Cherry Holmes in what many called a triumph for North Minneapolis residents. But from the beginning, things were tough for Natalie, the self-appointed leadership that had loyalties to Cherry Holmes refused to support Her, not to mention the Police Federation's demand that she resign. It has been a rough road for Natalie. Not to mention the redistricting of the Wards. Johnson-Lee lost an extremely powerful area in the Downtown warehouse areas. The fifth ward once held the Target Center, Café Havana, JD Hoyt's, the Monte Carlo, and a host of other prime real estate. As if tearing down one of the cities most amazing murals -- how did the Walker let this happen, or the Art Institute? -- standing on Olson Memorial Highway guarding the hood, was not enough. Whoever "they" are, wants to go and force the articulate actor, Reverend Don Samuels, against everybody's sister in the Natalie Johnson-Lee Struggle. It breaks my heart to see that a city that has come so far with the help of many good people that something as detrimental to the community as this is being allowed to happen. Granted we understand that many are still recovering for Wellstone's "freak" accident, the re-election of one of the countries most honestly determined presidents, but at some point we must realize that the community is really what matters. I think it is going to be a sad sight in a city that is becoming more and more culturally diverse, to have two of the communities more respected people of color tearing each other's heads off for the comfort that has been acquired with a nice position in city government. It appears that our government is playing Donald Trump dress up and over the next few months it is going to be a drugged-out-slander-campaign boardroom. The scary thing is that they were once constituents, so the dirt is going to be amazing. Not to mention the confusion it is going to cause to the community where the people were just beginning to get involved. In the Natalie Johnson-Lee camp there is a bug of discontent with Don Samuels. According to sources close to the conflict, Don Samuels, when the issue was first surfacing, said that he would support Natalie and not run against her, but after considering the possibilities -- selling his home and relocating to another ward or finding a new job -- it proved to be too much of an adjustment for the Samuels family. Therefore, although the Natalie camp is frustrated, one can understand the reasoning behind Samuels's change of heart. The real question, however, is not whether Don Samuels should run against Natalie Johnson-Lee but how did this race come to be? Was having two people -- both of whom have good repoire with the North Minneapolis community -- in the city council seats too much of burden for our local administration to handle? What effect is the race going to have on the unity of the community, cause many people that are involved in the community have firmly supported both candidates. Will this further divide the Northside community? The other concern of political activists that are involved in the Northside community is after years of trying to mobilize the neighborhood voters and to get the youth involved in the lower level political processes, will the conflict have damaging effects and cause confusion to the young voters? Will this make room for a candidate to slip in that really does not have the support of the demographic that represents the fifth ward? I hope that the leaders on the Northside will work hard to ask both candidates the tough questions and really find out the person that will be best for the position and get involved in the process to try and work on establishing a strong community consensus. Therefore, my little humble suggestion is to endorse one of the two candidates as a community to make sure that one gets in. Good Luck to both candidates and stay strong Northsiders; the Liberator loves ya. |
|