Responding to Jordan's question about the Magic 8 Ball, I am not involved with that group and actually have very little knowledge about the details of how they work. I was interviewed for this article because I was the founder and chair of a group that came before this group that raised a couple hundred dollars for charities that attempted to attack the core issues of poverty. About 15 years ago a group of friends who were active in various charitable groups decided to have an annual fundraiser for "emerging inner cities charities that attacked the core issues of poverty." Each year we went through a very lengthy process of visiting non profits and interviewing their directors to find a group that was just emerging and doing more than just applying Band-Aids to social problems. We hoped to both raise money and awareness. The event was called "Night of the Penguin" (which came from the fact that it was the first event ever in the old Munsingwear building after it became International Market Square.) Over the years we raised money for a variety of groups, including Red School House (an alternative Native American school in St. Paul), Project Offstreets, (which provided shelter and direction for homeless kids esp. GLBT kids who were ostracized from their homes), two programs for victims of domestic violence) and several other groups. During that time we raised a couple hundred dollars for charities, and, probably even more significant, raised significant awareness for groups that were just starting out or were operating under the radar. I'm also happy to say that many of the people who were members of that group went on to be active in a variety of non profit groups around the city, including those in the arts, education, social justice, the environment and human rights. We stopped about five years ago--most of us were having kids and couldn't do all the work-- and two new groups started in our place: The Bull Moose Party and the Magic 8 Ball. I haven't been involved in either of the groups but generally they took up the idea of having an annual event that raised money for charities. I don't know much about how they go about picking their charities, and I don't know if they take the same approach to choosing a group that attacks the structural causes of poverty. My general impression is that they are a bit more focused on the party and a bit less focused on the giving than we were....but I'm happy they are at least out there raising money. A few months ago I got a call from someone doing a story for Mpls St. Paul magazine about the Magic 8 Ball and its party in the jail. She called me because she wanted to understand how the group got started and heard it was inspired by Night of the Penguin. My understanding was that they were going to be having a party that would raise money for a group that would have a long term impact on attacking some of the core issues that led to incarceration. If handled right I thought it would be a great teachable moment in which the community could stand back and take a look at doing more than just building jails but, instead, focus on how to keep people from ending up there. So I gave the quote: "The county spent millions on a building to lock people up . . . It's great there is an opportunity to spend one night raising money to attack the core issues that land people in jail." When I saw the invitation, and the Web site, I was disappointed that this did not become a "teachable moment" and in fact found it very troubling. When we did our events we always included a very detailed explanation of the group we were raising money for and how that attacked the core of poverty. I'm sorry to say that the invitation and Web site did not have that. I found them both tasteless and did not see the connection between the charity and incarceration. I am glad that the group continues to raise money for charities but can't say I know much about their criteria. Jordan questioned my ability to understand the dynamics of oppression and advocate for victims of socio-economic and racist oppression. Any person in a majority culutre probably needs to be questioned for that, and I have to say I found the way this event ended up being handled to be pretty tasteless. But I would say that the work I did over a decade founding and leading Night of the Penguin was focused directly on trying to address some of the racial and economic issues that led to poverty. I don't pretend that our efforts were anything more than tiny steps but I'm happy that we were moving in the right direction. R.T. Rybak www.rtformayor.com _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - Minnesota E-Democracy Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
