[Mpls] This Week in The Minneapolis Observer

[Craig Cox]

T H E M I N N E A P O L I S O B S E R V E R
A Weekly Digest of All Things Minneapolitan
www.mplsobserver.com
Vol. 3, No. 9
October 6, 2003

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THIS WEEK IN THE OBSERVER:
* Black Leaders Allege Police Brutality in NAACP Fracas
* Local School Gets Left Behind
* County's Landmark Methadone Clinic Will Close
* Local Artist Featured in International Exhibition
* Heart of the Beast in South Korea
Plus: Putting up stop signs, more community summits, protecting Vikings fans, lutefisk for a Yankee fan, and the joy of political warfare

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BLACK LEADERS ALLEGE POLICE BRUTALITY IN NAACP FRACAS
A skirmish at a September 27 meeting of the local NAACP chapter has black leaders calling for an investigation and may endanger the city's fragile police-community mediation effort.

As Isaac Peterson III reports in the Spokesman-Recorder (http://www.spokesman-recorder.com), police were called to the scene after NAACP officials became concerned about the presence of a dissident member of the organization, Alfred Flowers, whom they felt was creating a disturbance. Flowers reportedly opposed the organization's proposed endorsement of David Jennings as new Minneapolis Schools Superintendent.

But when the officers arrived, eyewitnesses said, Flowers had already left the building and was standing on the sidewalk talking on a cell phone. When police approached him, he reportedly told them he was speaking with Urban League CEO Clarence Hightower, who was on his way to the meeting. In the ensuing confrontation, police kneed Flowers in the stomach, put him in a choke hold, and arrested him.

"When I got here, he [Flowers] was just walking along the sidewalk," said Richard Lot. "He was leaving the premises. This guy [a police officer] got out of the car and grabbed him. They had this man and they were beating him. They kneed him in the stomach and were trying to force him into the car."

Flowers was taken to Hennepin County Medical Center, where he was treated for whiplash and several sprains and released. He later returned after coughing up blood.

The incident, only the latest in a series of controversies at the local NAACP chapter during the past year, sparked the resignation last week of president Albert Gallmon and may cripple the city's already hobbled police-community mediation efforts. Flowers was a member of the mediation panel. "Mediation is in jeopardy," said activist Ron Edwards, another member of the panel. But Council Member Natalie Johnson Lee (5th Ward) said she wasn't certain what the effect might be. "It could either damage it or strengthen it. It depends on how you utilize this incident.

Johnson Lee and State Representative Neva Walker have requested a meeting with Mayor R.T. Rybak to discuss the matter.

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LOCAL SCHOOL GETS LEFT BEHIND
The Bush administration's new education initiative, the so-called No Child Left Behind Act, is leaving a pretty good Minneapolis school in the dust.

COUNTY'S LANDMARK METHADONE CLINIC WILL CLOSE
Citing state budget cuts, the Hennepin County Board last month voted to close its 34-year-old Methadone maintenance clinic.

LOCAL ARTIST FEATURED IN INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION
Local visual artist Tony White will have his work featured as part of a traveling exhibition of Native American art.

HEART OF THE BEAST IN SOUTH KOREA
Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mask Theater recently visited Gwatcheon, South Korea, to participate in the Gwatcheon Hanmanguk International Theater festival.

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The Minneapolis Observer is published 48 times/year by Independent Media, L.L.C. �2003 Independent Media, 4152 Snelling Ave., Minneapolis, MN 55406; www.mplsobserver.com. No part of this publication may be reprinted without the permission of Independent Media. Subscriptions: $12/yr. To unsubscribe, send us an e-mail ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) and we'll get you off the list and refund the unused portion of your subscription.
Editor: Craig Cox
Senior Executive Editor: Sharon Parker
Contributing writers: Chris Dodge, Leo Mezzrow
Equine consultant: Nora Cox
Perspective: Martin Cox
Thanks to: David Brauer, Janet Gendler

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