I do not condone what Booker Hodges said on MTN. It was irresponsible and, I believe, destructive to both Don Samuels and Natalie Johnson-Lees campaigns, and as someone who is involved with MTN, I support the decision to suspend that show, but I'm very much an NJL partisan and here's my take on this thread so far. First of all, Natalie Johnson-Lee has been a the very voice of calm and reason the Dennis attributes to Don Samuels. I wonder of there are any on the list who remember the police federation being in an uproar when NJL asked her constituents to pray for the families of BOTH Martha Donald, who killed a police officer, and for the officer who was killed. Both died and NJL asked us all to remember that BOTH were human beings and the families of both deserved our prayers. The police federation immediately demanded NJL's resignation, but she stuck to her convictions. Don Samuels arguably started the community infighting with his decision to challenge a great incumbent council member, after promising he would not do so during his 3rd ward campaign for office and publicly praising Natalie Johnson-Lee as a good and effective council member. Samuels had previously said, both to me personally through members of his campaign, and in print media that he was "inclined to move in to the new 3rd ward" rather than challenge NJL. Therefore, his decision (unlike Robert Lilligren, who made it clear that he would run in whatever ward he ended up) is dishonest. I believe he knew he would challenge her and told people like me what we wanted to hear in order to gain our support. In retrospect, I regret supporting Don Samuels, I regret voting for Don Samuels and I apologize to everyone in the 5th Ward who now must endure this bitter nasty campaign. As a result of this redistricting, I don't live in either the 5th or 3rd wards, and feel as though I have little influence in this election, but here's something to think about. The themes in the city races, including the mayoral race seem to be education and public safety. The undercurrent question seems to be should Minneapolis have a more centralized system, but most of these can only be decided by a charter amendment or the school board. There are far more important and effective issues for mayoral and council candidates to tackle. Only Natalie Johnson-Lee (and to a slightly lesser extent Dean Zimmermann and second ward challenger Cam Gordon) is talking about our poor air quality from the garbage incinerator that the SSB/Cherryhomes crowd shoved up our lungs, or about our poor water quality. Few candidates are even mentioning the reality that, for the first time I can remember (and I've lived here my whole life) Minneapolis has had air quality alert days where people were advised to stay inside.....and we're talking about a dictatorially run DFL convention (I saw the man who was shouted down for pointing out how dictatorially it was run) who the DFL candidates are, how much support they have, how nasty the campaigns are, and generally feeding in to a bunch of self important egos as our air gets worse, and water gets worse and our green space begins to disappear more and more in favor of concentrated housing development. Who cares whether our municipal government has a few extra people in it when the air we breath and the water we drink are getting progressively worse. On the issues that are most frequently raised, let's not forget where we were at the time of the 2001 election. We had the LSGI fiasco, downtown development run amok, the garbage incinerator, the Kondirator deal that we ended up having to pay for, and police department with cops who regularly beat heads in, shot several people who were mentally ill, and harassed anyone who didn't look like a white, clean cut yuppie. That was Minneapolis during the SSB/Cherryhomes days. There seem to be many, especially within the McLaughlin campaign (although I'm not faulting McLaughlin himself for this, still the company you keep......) who want to return to those days, and you also have candidates like Robert Lilligren, who demanded that we hire and MPD insider as police chief, and who seem to refuse to acknowledge that there is such a thing as police misconduct in Minneapolis. What short memories we have. Don Samuels promised that he would try to find a middle ground between those who completely distrusted police, because of past experiences, and those who wanted a more aggressive police presence. He failed. He holds grandstanding vigils and that is about as much as he's achieved. The crime rate has not been affected and no one's talking to each other. Natalie Johnson-Lee tends to see things more in a "big-picture" sense, improving public safety by encouraging home ownership and addressing economic issues, generally working to improve the lives of her constituents as a way of reducing crime. That is the proven method. My final plea (in this post anyway) to 5th and 6th ward residents is simply as a Green partisan. We are having air quality alert days, led poisoning in still a problem in Minneapolis, our water source comes from a polluted river, and concentrated development is threatening our green space. Don't we need Greens in Minneapolis government? Fortunately, Natalie Johnson-Lee is one of the best. Tamir Nolley Holland The old ward 3, where Don Samuels hasn't helped us much The new ward 1, where Paul Ostrow is essentially running uncontested and can apparently do, or not do, whatever he wants.
Dennis Plante <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: Michelle Hill Writes: However, my intention remains the same. To stop the infighting in the African-American. Support each other, whether our opinions are different or the same, and respect that our different styles, qualities and opinions are what makes us the great people GOD or a higher being, for those who have other religious beliefs, created. Dennis Plante Responds: I guess I do not see where "in-fighting" in the African American Community is taking place as it relates to this matter. I challenge anyone to put-forth an accurate statement from CM Samuels that can even vaguely be construed as "in-figthing" with other "leaders" within the African American community. He doesn't operate in that manner and anyone that has taken the time to objectively look at this issue would come to the same conclusion. Would you ask that CM Samuels be supportive of the type of rhetoric he has been subjected to by Al Flowers and Booker Hodges for the "good of the cause"? You're right Michelle, it is becoming ridiculous. However, it is becoming ridiculous for a reason much different than what you have offered. I am still left scratching my head as to what exactly CM Samuels should make an apology to Booker for, if you accept that a difference in style or quality is something that should be nurtured, then you must accept that CM Samuels has not personally offended either Hodges, or Flowers to the point where their reactions were even remotely warranted. Therein lies the difference between us. I believe that being an african american "leader" places the same responsibilities on an individual as it would if you were any other race. Had this issue arisen in a majority format, where statements of this type were made against someone holding a political office, it would be ALL OVER the news headlines and this issues list would be abuzz with correspondence regarding the matter. Yet, some are willing to accept it as "in-fighting" because it is associated to the african american community. This is inherently wrong. For the leaders of the african american community to ever be effective and to be taken seriously, they must be willing to take a stand and collectively censure this type of rhetoric and hold themselves to a higher standard. It IS that simple.... CM Samuels is a voice of calm and reason where one has not existed for quite some time. To infer he is a "house-nigger" is to not know him at all. The one thing I have come to admire about CM Samuels is that he IS a very principled indivdual and that he IS willing to to lay the convictions of his principles on the line. Regardless of who you are. He IS willing to tell you when he doesn't agree with something you tel him, in a civil manner, and he's wlling to tell you why. This is EXACTLY how someone gains credibility. dennis plante lind-bohanon REMINDERS: 1. Be civil! Please read the NEW RULES at http://www.e-democracy.org/rules. If you think a member is in violation, contact the list manager at [EMAIL PROTECTED] before continuing it on the list. 2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[email protected] Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls --------------------------------- Yahoo! Mail Mobile Take Yahoo! Mail with you! Check email on your mobile phone. REMINDERS: 1. Be civil! Please read the NEW RULES at http://www.e-democracy.org/rules. If you think a member is in violation, contact the list manager at [EMAIL PROTECTED] before continuing it on the list. 2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[email protected] Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
