02/10/2007
By Bruce H, Scroggins
I read what was written in the Insight, Spokesmen Recorder and the Minneapolis Star Tribune; I also read several apologies by Don Samuels, my conclusion follows. I have one question, up front: we are talking about YOUTH?, we are angry about, OUR YOUTH, aren’t we?
Recriminations, fault finding, innuendos, facts and false facts, statistics and false statistics, the whole gambit and more, all by men and women, who have been throwing their hodgepodge of explanations, excuses and wild remedies, mixed with a measure of clairvoyance, up against the wall. Some have struck the right cords and some simply have been self serving of their particular pet peeve, some have blindly been offering angry statements, with a hidden agenda behind their outrages statements.
The Blatant truth is MPLS Schools have not kept the faith with, closing the achievement gap, between Black Youth and White Youth first and foremost, in there measuring stick of where they want to take all of the Youth of MPLS, there was at one time a ray of bright light, during the last Superintendents leadership, she set a course and charged every one with a hand in Education, to shut up and put up, above and beyond, their degree’s and there Unions, their likes and dislikes aside, at last she rubbed many the wrong way and they collectively undermined her and staked out her demise.
But be that as it may, back to our youth, Minneapolitans have been given a charge and it has been treated like, a tweak here and a tweak there, is the standard operating procedure and then wait to see the results of their throwing up on the wall, to see what stuck, calling strikes and balls, as if this were a game, it’s like refusing to smell to see if it’s sour, but instead pouring the sour milk into the hot coffee, to see if it’s curdled, what’s happened is everyone has and experiment, every one wants to try their experiment. Others have vested them selves in trashing the system in place, when they sell out to one plan, but won’t find funding to increase their private plan, or make its availability and choice more readily available to the public, in other words grow your own solution, Charter Schools are one. Vouchers are another, both need private funding source, not public money taken from the model that is working, even if not well for all Youth and talk of taking away the public schools money, is punitive and was sold to those who purport to be behind this plan, are in err, private funding, for private schools, I repeat is the answer, not public Schools present funding.
Charter Schools offer a new course, but have there problems, what with keeping qualified teachers and such and keeping there Charters in compliance and more.
But let me say, here’s a agenda, I abhors, its groups who want to tear down the public Schools, they have concluded there no good and they want to undermine every step of the engaged supporters improvements, they attack funding and ignore, those who have vested interest in improving their Schools, like parents and groups concerns are scoffed at, mostly behind closed doors.
The PTA’s, NRP, Head Start, MPLS School Boards, past and present have charted courses, that have brought failure and improvements, the wild cards have been Mayors, Governors and legislatures, they have been supportive and have been the prime one’s pulling rugs out from under, great Ideas and Educators, over the years.
Around the Nation there have been great successes in education, achievements in New York, Harlem, what I’ am trying to say is, the Good ideas, that have been put into practice and have worked, those working plans are not duplicated down to the base boards. Many times I’ve heard of fact Finding groups sent from one group, they examine the working programs of the successful groups, but who’s in the fact finding group, usually Administration, Middle level management, implementation staff, but what is needed is the Students, Parents and Unions, they need to explore how they can implement this new model and work together with Administrations and when this is done and done right, they will truly have to get a working model and make it work, but one or the other holds the other hostage to their hidden agenda, usually the Administration and the Union and it’s ends, when either never gets off the ground, or it fails and both parties end up pointing fingers and the community and parents never know what happened.
Because it laden too heavily from the top down, partnerships have not been honestly strengthen.
Public School lack their strongest strength and that is an engaged Parent, the Schools rely on there Educational abilities far too much, when just one engaged parent can make one good educator ten time better. So focus on the parents presence in the schools, this is an engaged model, proactive model, the re-active, arrestive model of education if fraught with problems and is failing forward.
Teachers have to stop waiting at the Schools for the children to come and go too the homes and meet the parents, stop with privacy talk and start talking to the parents, in front of their children, these teacher are going to spend one of the largest periods of time, investing in your child’s brain, each day of the School year, they have a right to come to the home, like a friend and there not separate and outside, of your child’s life, they are intricately involved in their lives for a considerable length of their developmental life, but this idea is new and it’s not without merit and parents should be allowed to attend there children’s schools at least one day a month during the school year, maybe say, 3 or 4 hours of the day, they can volunteer and be a check on there child’s development, not just teacher parents night, or lurching from crisis to crisis, or come dumb founded about what a parent didn’t know.
If we can set aside the job for the National Guard and the Reserves, we can set aside time for parent to see to their children, on a regular basis and it should be mandatory attendance, with pay, just like their children are required to attend.
Now these ideas again are new and can be incorporated into our society, parents not ask to be involved, they are required to be involved, required, like by law required.
At any rate we are talking about our Youth, let me repeat that OUR YOUTH, all of them, every color, every beating heart, is our responsibility, not just and angry sound bite, from one warrior in the wilderness.
Thursday, December 27, 2007
Friday, November 23, 2007
North MPLS, a lesson, a study in how tacitly ignoring a community and it's businesses and how it Kills
Add Drugs & crime and allowing failure and leaving little direct fingerprints, whose fault is it? Each succeeding owner’s effort, undermined into a deeper failure, until a SAVIOR appears the U of M.
11/04/2007
By Bruce H. Scroggins
Let’s be clear residents of North MPLS, the end we stand at today can be a good direction, for North MPLS, but not with out do diligence and in order to lay down for our communities future, a solid accountable, enforceable direction, history and the answer to move forward, have too be fore and front and center in all that come before us for a true and verifiable, partnership between the University of Minnesota and North MPLS, the parents, children, and business, through institutions, the UNP, the CBA.
I opened with a statement, of “let’s be clear North MPLS,” today clarity is the watch word and to arrive at clarity, we have to have a firm hold of the past, to move in the best direction for the, or our future.
The object lesson for North MPLS today is, the Plymouth Ave Shopping Mall. This Mall was a concrete reality for the new and burgeoning and now self empowered Minorities of North MPLS. Since the first boat load of blacks, were denied landing, in Pigs Eye, MN once again, later named Saint Paul, MN and had to retreat down the Mississippi to Fort Snelling, MN a lesson was learned for blacks, that lesson was, keep trying to reach your goal and never give up, but remember where you came from and what you came through to get there.
We start with the 60’s, a turbulent time for America and MPLS, MN and North MPLS, in particular. Let’s be clear, I speak from a perspective of the minority community, because on Plymouth Ave North, a process was played out, in a Business community that was another incubator for minority business, that had a beginning on old Seven Corners, in around the turn of the Century, the early 1900’s and on 6th Ave North and carried forth and embodied in the Plymouth Ave Shopping Mall. Before it was a Mall, their were few black owned businesses on Plymouth Ave, but not until after the riot’s of 1968, sweeping out many if not all Jewish owned businesses on Plymouth, there were at the end of the 60’s and beginning of the 70’s.
This was a heady time for North MPLS’s minorities, they were moving into Schools, of higher education and the workforce was transforming, Black North MPLS resident, minority’s were dreaming of futures with better education and owning homes and businesses, right in the community they lived end.
Let’s get to the immediate future, the black owned Plymouth Plaza Shopping Center, as it was named the KING Shopping Center, those were the days, the Mall on Plymouth Ave was a bright shinning example of leadership and what could be. The 15 plus year history, worked out by a entrepreneuring black man, with minority employees, it was a class room study for many, empowering many more black owned business people, to launch out into the community, we had restaurants, LOIS’s Café, just before the Mall was constructed, it was among the first, a Dry Cleaners, Barbershops, a Bank, Drug store and many others businesses grew during these years, including a gas station, on the corner of Plymouth & Penn Ave North.
North MPLS was coming back from the 68’ riots and it was coming back strong. And here’s how you allow failure, The Way Opportunities Unlimited Community Center, was the catalyst, for learning, for our youth. Under the leadership of Sly Davis, Gwen Jones Davis, Spike Moss, Mahmoud El Kati, Cherry Moss, Mr. Zulu, Willa Mae Dixon and many others.
As the black owned businesses began to falter, one of the reasons for the excellent business atmosphere was the Black managed North West Bank across, from the Mall on Plymouth Ave, this branch bank, the community so trusted this Bank an overwhelming number of North MPLS residents, removed the saving from the main Bank, in down town MPLS and brought it to the Plymouth Ave branch, Safety Deposit Vaults were selling like hot cakes, their was commerce, people felt good, about coming to the Institutions on Plymouth Ave, but another business was growing in North MPLS.
Drugs are that something else growing, we also suffered the Gasoline embargo, and the recession, and when recession hit minorities, it a depression for many, the practice of last hired, first fired, or laid off, was still very much a business tool. Now the drug sales kept increasing and Let’s look at the riot’s, when this riot happened, the National Guard was called out in North MPLS, the MPLS Police Department, felt like the Negro’s brought a tarnish to their good names, the job of keeping their negro’s in line was called into failure.
And the Jewish community was none to happy as well, but what followed was tacit, purposeful and diabolical. The Mall on Plymouth Ave was to get a Police Department, erasing the THE WAY COMMUNITY CENTER, the two anchors were lost, Kings and the Bank, Kings went out of business and the branch bank was moved to Plymouth, MN. The MacDonald’s, which had now turned into an open and a inside drug flea market. The drugs were devastating to the community and businesses.
Along with the Laws changing, remember so many children had finally came out of the closets and spoke loudly about all forms of abuses through out America, and many of the voices were now in power and these power voices were not minorities, in Business and in Government. The Way Community Center was closed and moved, we got the City INC and here’s the main reason, every Mall operator has went straight into the tank, trying too make a go of the Plymouth Mall.
Minneapolis 4th Precinct
http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/police/about/4th-precinct.asp
1925 Plymouth Ave NMinneapolis, MN 55411(612) 673-5704Get directions
The Plymouth Shopping Mall is RIGHT next door, less than 50 yards away, from the 4th Precinct.
RIGHT NEXT TO THE PLYMOUTH MALL WAS BUILT A MPLS POLICE SUB BRANCH STATION, CALLED THE 4th PORECINCT.
Year after year, drug sales have been the main reason, every suitor, refuse to open business, or stay once they did make a try at business, eventually every business went belly up, Lucille’s Kitchen left, the Drug Store left, Hardware Store, Barbara’s Beauty, Staten’s Liquors, a laundry.
Now ask your self what most North MPLS Resident ask the POLICE DEPARTMENT, why can’t you stop people from selling drugs all around your Branch station and why are they sold, less than 50 yards for your front Police station Front Door.
When all any NRRP, or NRC, Urban league, Block Club, or even an Alderperson or any business community in combination, which could of afforded a Police presence, in the lot while business was going on, drug dealing would of STOPPED and I know someone came up with this idea, if only one police officer didn’t make the suggestion in morning patrol meetings, but year in and year out, I’ve found out from Snow foods, the black precinct commander at the 4th, did station three cars, in the Parking lot, with there camera’s on and the drugs stopped, but he was replaced and the practice stopped and the drugs came back stronger than before, all 50 yards away from the 4th precincts front desk. The police have a presence at the CUB Foods, on Broadway & Lyndale Ave North and it doesn’t stop stealing, but it cut the theft down to a manageable number.
But the Police absolutely abandon the Community and the businesses right next door for years, so every business, including management had a huge hurdle to overcome and no one helped… NO ONE… until the great hope, the University of Minnesota, all we got to do is supply our treasure for study and as Don Samuels say, we get $9 million for the mall and $90 million more in investments, can you say SAVIOUR.
11/04/2007
By Bruce H. Scroggins
Let’s be clear residents of North MPLS, the end we stand at today can be a good direction, for North MPLS, but not with out do diligence and in order to lay down for our communities future, a solid accountable, enforceable direction, history and the answer to move forward, have too be fore and front and center in all that come before us for a true and verifiable, partnership between the University of Minnesota and North MPLS, the parents, children, and business, through institutions, the UNP, the CBA.
I opened with a statement, of “let’s be clear North MPLS,” today clarity is the watch word and to arrive at clarity, we have to have a firm hold of the past, to move in the best direction for the, or our future.
The object lesson for North MPLS today is, the Plymouth Ave Shopping Mall. This Mall was a concrete reality for the new and burgeoning and now self empowered Minorities of North MPLS. Since the first boat load of blacks, were denied landing, in Pigs Eye, MN once again, later named Saint Paul, MN and had to retreat down the Mississippi to Fort Snelling, MN a lesson was learned for blacks, that lesson was, keep trying to reach your goal and never give up, but remember where you came from and what you came through to get there.
We start with the 60’s, a turbulent time for America and MPLS, MN and North MPLS, in particular. Let’s be clear, I speak from a perspective of the minority community, because on Plymouth Ave North, a process was played out, in a Business community that was another incubator for minority business, that had a beginning on old Seven Corners, in around the turn of the Century, the early 1900’s and on 6th Ave North and carried forth and embodied in the Plymouth Ave Shopping Mall. Before it was a Mall, their were few black owned businesses on Plymouth Ave, but not until after the riot’s of 1968, sweeping out many if not all Jewish owned businesses on Plymouth, there were at the end of the 60’s and beginning of the 70’s.
This was a heady time for North MPLS’s minorities, they were moving into Schools, of higher education and the workforce was transforming, Black North MPLS resident, minority’s were dreaming of futures with better education and owning homes and businesses, right in the community they lived end.
Let’s get to the immediate future, the black owned Plymouth Plaza Shopping Center, as it was named the KING Shopping Center, those were the days, the Mall on Plymouth Ave was a bright shinning example of leadership and what could be. The 15 plus year history, worked out by a entrepreneuring black man, with minority employees, it was a class room study for many, empowering many more black owned business people, to launch out into the community, we had restaurants, LOIS’s Café, just before the Mall was constructed, it was among the first, a Dry Cleaners, Barbershops, a Bank, Drug store and many others businesses grew during these years, including a gas station, on the corner of Plymouth & Penn Ave North.
North MPLS was coming back from the 68’ riots and it was coming back strong. And here’s how you allow failure, The Way Opportunities Unlimited Community Center, was the catalyst, for learning, for our youth. Under the leadership of Sly Davis, Gwen Jones Davis, Spike Moss, Mahmoud El Kati, Cherry Moss, Mr. Zulu, Willa Mae Dixon and many others.
As the black owned businesses began to falter, one of the reasons for the excellent business atmosphere was the Black managed North West Bank across, from the Mall on Plymouth Ave, this branch bank, the community so trusted this Bank an overwhelming number of North MPLS residents, removed the saving from the main Bank, in down town MPLS and brought it to the Plymouth Ave branch, Safety Deposit Vaults were selling like hot cakes, their was commerce, people felt good, about coming to the Institutions on Plymouth Ave, but another business was growing in North MPLS.
Drugs are that something else growing, we also suffered the Gasoline embargo, and the recession, and when recession hit minorities, it a depression for many, the practice of last hired, first fired, or laid off, was still very much a business tool. Now the drug sales kept increasing and Let’s look at the riot’s, when this riot happened, the National Guard was called out in North MPLS, the MPLS Police Department, felt like the Negro’s brought a tarnish to their good names, the job of keeping their negro’s in line was called into failure.
And the Jewish community was none to happy as well, but what followed was tacit, purposeful and diabolical. The Mall on Plymouth Ave was to get a Police Department, erasing the THE WAY COMMUNITY CENTER, the two anchors were lost, Kings and the Bank, Kings went out of business and the branch bank was moved to Plymouth, MN. The MacDonald’s, which had now turned into an open and a inside drug flea market. The drugs were devastating to the community and businesses.
Along with the Laws changing, remember so many children had finally came out of the closets and spoke loudly about all forms of abuses through out America, and many of the voices were now in power and these power voices were not minorities, in Business and in Government. The Way Community Center was closed and moved, we got the City INC and here’s the main reason, every Mall operator has went straight into the tank, trying too make a go of the Plymouth Mall.
Minneapolis 4th Precinct
http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/police/about/4th-precinct.asp
1925 Plymouth Ave NMinneapolis, MN 55411(612) 673-5704Get directions
The Plymouth Shopping Mall is RIGHT next door, less than 50 yards away, from the 4th Precinct.
RIGHT NEXT TO THE PLYMOUTH MALL WAS BUILT A MPLS POLICE SUB BRANCH STATION, CALLED THE 4th PORECINCT.
Year after year, drug sales have been the main reason, every suitor, refuse to open business, or stay once they did make a try at business, eventually every business went belly up, Lucille’s Kitchen left, the Drug Store left, Hardware Store, Barbara’s Beauty, Staten’s Liquors, a laundry.
Now ask your self what most North MPLS Resident ask the POLICE DEPARTMENT, why can’t you stop people from selling drugs all around your Branch station and why are they sold, less than 50 yards for your front Police station Front Door.
When all any NRRP, or NRC, Urban league, Block Club, or even an Alderperson or any business community in combination, which could of afforded a Police presence, in the lot while business was going on, drug dealing would of STOPPED and I know someone came up with this idea, if only one police officer didn’t make the suggestion in morning patrol meetings, but year in and year out, I’ve found out from Snow foods, the black precinct commander at the 4th, did station three cars, in the Parking lot, with there camera’s on and the drugs stopped, but he was replaced and the practice stopped and the drugs came back stronger than before, all 50 yards away from the 4th precincts front desk. The police have a presence at the CUB Foods, on Broadway & Lyndale Ave North and it doesn’t stop stealing, but it cut the theft down to a manageable number.
But the Police absolutely abandon the Community and the businesses right next door for years, so every business, including management had a huge hurdle to overcome and no one helped… NO ONE… until the great hope, the University of Minnesota, all we got to do is supply our treasure for study and as Don Samuels say, we get $9 million for the mall and $90 million more in investments, can you say SAVIOUR.
Thursday, November 22, 2007
An Open letter to the NORTH SIDE MPLS Community and our YOUTH
By Bruce H. Scroggins
10/21/2007
The Urban League Truancy Center, is a solid program of the highest African American participation, the Minority community has seen, since the huge increase in minority, youth being the largest portion of drop outs and kicked out youth, of the MPLS Public Schools, I ask Mayor Rybak, too leave the program where it has grown in purpose and service. I ask 1st Vice Chair Fredrick Clayton. (I won’t use your nickname) Tyler III, 2nd Vice Chair Lee Hutton III, to fight for our community and the Urban League to retain this valuable program, not undermine and be basically derelict of duty.
I ask Bill English, to fight for the Truancy programs, (your desire for one of the closed schools, is ok, as long as everyone knows it) the black community knows about the sudden and not so sudden SEED MONEY, being spread around to the Non profits and their sudden silence after standing with the first outrage and the not so public trip, out East to view Dr. Chicetti’s, work at Mount Hope, Rochecter, NY by the way not the same work, he proposes here in North MPLS, but sensible talk after there return and, then seed money available, was not lost on many in the North MPLS Leadership.
The NAACP and the MPLS School Board are all on notice, we have seen the conspiratorial behind the scenes, collusion between the Mayors Office and the University of Minnesota, involving the CBA agreement and North Point, the recent sale of the Plymouth Shopping Center to the U of Minnesota, stop the attack on Mr. Hightower, step up and stand up, Minority community, we know the school closings were wrong and the facts and statistics used to say economics and the North MPLS schools loss of children as reasons why the closing took place, we know the loss was city wide.
The black community awaits the U of M’s Scientific Proposal and Dr. Chichetti’s proposal, for the study of children on the North Side, Keith Ellison, I ask you make this a big deal in the media, speak up Congressman, call a news conference, I’ll support you and I will make it known. Last but not least, Mr. Don Samuels, your participation is known and you have been put on point, stand with the black leaders, or stand alone.
The truth is coming out and no one can stop it. Theirs an agreement proposed between the MPLS Public Schools and poor performance youth, to recommend these youth, through their parents to the U of M’s facility and program and with the foot hold, the U of M bought, on Plymouth Ave, the U of M is well on it’s way, in collusion with the now pacified North Point, (North Point get’s new Addition) to go along to get along.
10/21/2007
The Urban League Truancy Center, is a solid program of the highest African American participation, the Minority community has seen, since the huge increase in minority, youth being the largest portion of drop outs and kicked out youth, of the MPLS Public Schools, I ask Mayor Rybak, too leave the program where it has grown in purpose and service. I ask 1st Vice Chair Fredrick Clayton. (I won’t use your nickname) Tyler III, 2nd Vice Chair Lee Hutton III, to fight for our community and the Urban League to retain this valuable program, not undermine and be basically derelict of duty.
I ask Bill English, to fight for the Truancy programs, (your desire for one of the closed schools, is ok, as long as everyone knows it) the black community knows about the sudden and not so sudden SEED MONEY, being spread around to the Non profits and their sudden silence after standing with the first outrage and the not so public trip, out East to view Dr. Chicetti’s, work at Mount Hope, Rochecter, NY by the way not the same work, he proposes here in North MPLS, but sensible talk after there return and, then seed money available, was not lost on many in the North MPLS Leadership.
The NAACP and the MPLS School Board are all on notice, we have seen the conspiratorial behind the scenes, collusion between the Mayors Office and the University of Minnesota, involving the CBA agreement and North Point, the recent sale of the Plymouth Shopping Center to the U of Minnesota, stop the attack on Mr. Hightower, step up and stand up, Minority community, we know the school closings were wrong and the facts and statistics used to say economics and the North MPLS schools loss of children as reasons why the closing took place, we know the loss was city wide.
The black community awaits the U of M’s Scientific Proposal and Dr. Chichetti’s proposal, for the study of children on the North Side, Keith Ellison, I ask you make this a big deal in the media, speak up Congressman, call a news conference, I’ll support you and I will make it known. Last but not least, Mr. Don Samuels, your participation is known and you have been put on point, stand with the black leaders, or stand alone.
The truth is coming out and no one can stop it. Theirs an agreement proposed between the MPLS Public Schools and poor performance youth, to recommend these youth, through their parents to the U of M’s facility and program and with the foot hold, the U of M bought, on Plymouth Ave, the U of M is well on it’s way, in collusion with the now pacified North Point, (North Point get’s new Addition) to go along to get along.
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