I got the following in my email today:
The U of MN National Lawyer Guild Presents:
Black and Blue:Beyond Conflict & Toward Healing a City�s Wounds
Panelists:
Natalie Johnson-Lee, Minneapolis City Councilperson for Ward 5
Gregory Hestness, Deputy Chief of Police of Minneapolis Police Department
Spike Moss, Community activist
Kinshasha Kambui, Community Relation Liaison for Minneapolis Mayor�s Office
When: Thursday, November 7,2002 1:30pm � 3:00pm
Where: Lockhart Hall (Room 25)
University of Minnesota Law School
229 South 19th Avenue Minneapolis, MN
This panel discussion will focus on the recent conflict between the
Minneapolis Police Department and members of the community. Topics of
discussion will revolve around recent shootings, the possibility of
mediation, and other solutions that will improve community/police relations.
Wendy Leo Moore, attorney and Ph.D. candidate will moderate.
A short reception will follow the discussion.
I decided to go to this thing, because I was interested in hearing what
these panelists had to say. Well one of the first things Spike Moss
started to rant on about was the evil media and how they covered the that
drug bust at 26th and Knox. So I got up and asked about something that had
been bothering me for a long time -- that is the statements from some that
the reporters who were covering this situation got beaten up and how the
police had pulled back. I introduced myself and mentioned that I recently
moved to the North Side from the Central Neighborhood -- and mentioned that
in my own experience, many of the African American people I had talked to
in Central and on the North side want police protection, and were concerned
about reducing crime. I also mentioned that many of these folks told me
they felt that Spike Moss would claim to speak for the whole African
American community, when really the question is who does he speak for
besides Spike Moss.
Spike Moss the self proclaimed "Freedom Fighter" got quite irritated with
that question, and asked me how I knew the people I had been talking about
weren't drug dealers and criminals who Spike was preventing from doing
their business in the neighborhood.
Natalie Johnson Lee gave a thoughtful answer to the question that in her
experience the media often will go to the usual suspects for their stories
-- sometimes because the person will have a good soundbite (and Spike
certainly does have that).
Another member from the audience and I talked during the reception
upstairs, and this person said it seemed that I obviously had struck a
nerve. I still don't understand why the police pulled back that night, and
feel that the reporters who got beaten up didn't need to get beaten
up. Low income communities deserve the same police protection everyone
else does in this city, and I for one don't want the second class
citizenship treatment of getting Deputy Chief Spike Moss (as Soucheray
calls him) as a neighborhood patroller rather than the police.
Eva Young
Near North
Minneapolis
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
_______________________________________
Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy
Post messages to: mailto:mpls@;mnforum.org
Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
- [Mpls] Black and Blue: Beyond Conflict & Toward Healing Eva Young
- Eva Young
