Commentary On Kenya McKnight Commentary...

Photo and blog post by John Hoff

Maybe I could have written this commentary while the previous issue of Insight News was still sitting on the news racks, but one thing I've noticed is there's always PLENTY of copies left sitting on the news racks. And I wouldn't want to leave the impression I just couldn't wait to read the article by Kenya McKnight about Kenya McKnight...no, that old copy of Insight News was stuffed in my backpack, forgotten, and I found it recently while looking for some object. Not sure what object it was, but I'm fairly certain it wasn't a Sharpie marker.

So, months after some fairly brutal election results which left no doubt about the popularity of Council Member Don Samuels against, gee, four other contenders (political midgets one and all, but some were more midget-ey than others) unsuccessful Fifth Ward Candidate Kenya McKnight has published some commentary which, truthfully, would have been better off left unpublished.

In the article, McKnight talks about how her life had been "in a funk" for two years and how she'd "lost interest in everything including my responsibilities to support my life and eventually grew very tired of the world that surrounded me." As I read this article, dear reader, I had to ask myself...

...did I write a political parody piece and submit it to Insight News without REMEMBERING I'd done that? Because I could hardly believe what I was reading, here. In politics it is always possible to reinvent yourself, and the public has a short memory. Kenya could have waited a number of years, kept her head down, and tried running again. And, yes, she might still do that...but this article won't help her. In fact, I think this article will set Kenya back further, politically, than even her utterly unsuccessful run for public office.

Honestly, what voter in their right mind wants an elected official who makes running for public office sound like, well, an alternative to suicide or psychiatric hospitalization?

The fact Kenya wrote such an article is not THAT shocking...after all, a reliable source told me about Kenya's rather quirky beliefs in regard to the Queen of England, and when I asked Kenya about that subject directly, Kenya didn't go out of her way to deny it...so, yeah, I can see Kenya writing something c-r-a-z-y like this piece.

But what surprises me is the damn thing got PUBLISHED. That's what I find shocking. Didn't somebody at Insight News say, ever-so-gently, "Kenya, do you really think you want to say this kind of stuff? How you lost interest in your personal responsibilities so you decided to run for an office of, well, great responsibility?"

But everybody who was there at the Fifth Ward DFL convention remembers Insight News publisher Al McFarlane talking so long at the podium that Kenya McKnight--the actual candidate--had about 37 seconds left to speak. Once again, while taking on the guise of supporting Kenya McKnight, Insight News has done the young woman no favors.

Lennie Chism Makes His Case To Save Former Uncle Bill's Store...

Photo By John Hoff

Last night at Northpoint, the Willard Homewood Organization (WHO) met with a handful of items on the agenda, including one particularly pressing issue: Lennie Chism's big dream of turning the old Uncle Bill's store into some kind of organic deli greenhouse entreprenuership program...um, thingie.

Lennie recently bought the building for $3,000. Considering the state of the structure, somebody should have PAID LENNIE to take that old derelict off their hands. At the very least, it might be argued Lennie paid $2,999 too much, since it appears the seller was quite willing to unload this turkey at a nominal sum. In any case...

...tonight Lennie made his case in front of the WHO, which is chaired by Al McFarlane. Members of the community, including myself, had an opportunity to ask questions after Lennie's presentation.

So Lennie said some stuff about plans to put an "entrepreneurship program" at the site, and claimed the store would sell no tobacco products when it was up and running. He said a bunch of things about hope, about vision, about a community believing in itself. He said things that would sound pretty good if it wasn't all coming from Lennie Chism, who (the record will reflect) can't even deal with the blight at his building at 1901 Glenwood Ave. N.

McFarlane opened the floor to questions and comments. I got a crack at Lennie and asked him (as I'd asked hours earlier on the sidewalk in front of 1901 Glenwood) how he was going to pull off a project this massive and challenging, when he couldn't even prevent foreclosure at 1901 Glenwood Ave., his corporate headquarters where he still (miraculously) resides, post-foreclosure.

(I have an unconfirmed claim that Lennie managed to purchase the building after foreclosure. This claim is not only unconfirmed but appears to contradict what is being said by Lennie, that he has "possession" of the building and confirming the foreclosure, and that he has a "good relationship" with his bank. All the same, for the record, this unverified claim is "out there" like reports of alien abduction are "out there.")

In response to my question, Lennie said a bunch of stuff about how he has a "network of great people" who will assist him, and (like he had grandly compared himself to Louis Pasteur earlier in the afternoon) alluded to Henry Ford not giving up when people said things couldn't be done. Lennie said he doesn't "do brick and mortar," so he will get somebody to help with THAT. He also doesn't "do housing"...or "do food." For that kind of stuff, he would look to somebody else, as well.

"So what DO you do?" I asked, but the Chair cut off THAT line of questioning.

A mix of supporters and detractors spoke. The crowd appeared evenly divided between a loud, demonstrative "pro-Lennie" faction and a tight-lipped group of "anti-Uncle Bill's" residents who were opposed to Lennie's (mad, doomed) scheme. One woman got up and spoke of bullet holes in her house because of all the problems associated with the old Uncle Bill's. She demanded to know the name of the vendor Lennie was planning to use for this organic food store plan. Lennie refused to disclose the name of the vendor but assured the woman she'd be "extremely pleased."

And, I might add, you can take the word of Lennie Chism to the bank, and the bank will let you stay in your building after foreclosure.

Al "I Am The Community" Flowers rose to speak, urging people to believe in Lennie and not be negative. He then proceeded to criticize this blog (without naming the blog) for coverage of the Annshalike Hamilton murder, still unsolved, specifically for writing "stuff about her family."

City Council Member Don Samuels spoke last, pointing out it was the community which initiated the closure of Uncle Bill's with a loud, overwhelming voice. Getting the place re-zoned and re-opened was, he said, "so unlikely." He didn't see Lennie's plan as workable and pointed out Lennie had "such a small investment of risk." (By which Samuels appeared to mean the mere $3k Lennie had put into acquiring the building)

Lennie rose to speak and rebut Samuels' points before the Council Member was finished, and Chairman McFarlane told Lennie to allow Samuels to finish. Samuels finished in grand style, saying, "there's nothing about your past relationship with the city that gives me confidence" and Samuels pointed out Lennie had been unable to deal with the problem of blight at his own building at 1901 Glenwood Ave. N. This produced a visceral response from some in the audience, who said talking about Lennie's (crappy) building at 1901 Glenwood was a "personal attack."

Chair McFarlane took a suggestion to refer this matter to committee and then he only had to face the minor problem of there being no committees. Committees were in the process of being formed, to put things too simply. (I've heard some scattered accounts about how the old Economic Development Committee split off from WHO and became its own group, and how committees were eliminated at WHO, but I am still trying to obtain a detailed account of what, exactly, has taken place)

McFarlane then proceeded to pick who would be on the committee, based on the raised hands of volunteers. Apparently five people were picked (still need to confirm this) and included Jackie Cherryhomes and Kenya McKnight. It was my perception that the committee was stacked with "pro-Lennie" forces, with the exception of Cherryhomes.

A good time was had by all, and Al Flowers managed to get through a crowded room of people without accusing anybody of stepping on his precious widdle toes-ies.

ADDENDUM: The particular question being referred to committee was whether to support Lennie. Also, a woman representing NRRC and another woman representing Northpoint stood and spoke favorably about Chism's plan.

Blog Donation Disclosures And A Media Critique...

Photo By John Hoff

In the course of some "house keeping" about disclosing donations to the blog, I think this would be a good time to say where I believe Johnny Northside Dot Com fits amid the other media which serve North Minneapolis...especially since this grassroots media effort runs on a shoestring, and all the other media have some "oomph" behind them.

First, consider the mainstream media. They miss most of the North Minneapolis stories, they get the stories they do cover WRONG, and they tend to show up mostly for violent crime. As much as the problems which actually plague our neighborhood, the mainstream media are part of the problem because of their constant reinforcement of the stereotype that North Minneapolis is an urban dystopian theme park of violence and decay.

This blog doesn't pull punches reporting on crime--including the theft of my own van, and the times I've had my tires slashed, probably for things I've blogged--but I make an effort to cover the WHOLE story. I think the story of North Minneapolis is the story of revitalization amid the foreclosure crisis and involved citizens taking back their streets from thugs, creating a livable and desirable urban environment...

Second, there is Al McFarlane's media machine, the so-called Insight News. First and foremost, I weep for the forests. Though Insight News has a website, the publication is completely wedded to its "flesh of dead trees" format. Insight's agenda is obvious in every issue: put Al McFarlane on the front page often (with his oh-so-serious, I'm-so-important expression) and support Al McFarlane's agenda. As far as I can see, part of that agenda involves propping up various political candidates and personalities including, but not limited to:

* The Reverend Jerry McAfee. Insight News doesn't mention McAfee's appearance as a witness on behalf of Larry "Maximum" Maxwell, who went down hard on 18 felonies involving mortgage fraud.

* Kenya McKnight, candidate for city council in the Fifth Ward. Actually, McKnight is virtually a creation of Insight News.

* Beating the drums of racial tension. McFarlane constantly tries to emphasize some kind of race-based problems, even as most of North Minneapolis is trying to make an effort to get along. While Council Member Don Samuels literally embraces my son, (see a previous blog post) Al McFarlane's Insight News appears to make an effort to tear us all apart and emphasize differences instead of diversity.

So, all in all, North Minneapolis is very poorly served by Insight News, but worse yet is the fact Insight News just doesn't crank out enough stories, enough content. I pick that rag off the rack and most of the time I'm done perusing it in sixty seconds, and then I have to put it back on the rack or find a recycle bin. Plenty of the features are just worthless filler.

Third, moving on to the little free newspaper called North News: My only two criticisms are "dead tree format" and "not enough content." This publication tries hard and often succeeds, but...well, paper is dead. At least North News has one thing down, one thing exactly right:

The story of North Minneapolis is the story of urban revitalization.

So that brings us to this blog. First of all, I don't kill trees. Secondly, it is my goal to CRANK OUT THE CONTENT. This blog finds its niche by printing a detailed, granular view of North Minneapolis and the struggle for revitalization and de-thugification in a writing style which, yes, actually tries to be entertaining. And, apparently for these reasons, readers have periodically contributed cash to this oh-so-grassroots effort.

So, yeah, some disclosures...

PayPal donations of $25, $20, $10 which all came in before June 3. These funds pretty much went to bills, bills, bills. Well, I also took my son to a movie at Mall of America.

One cash donation of $20, pictured above, which came from the hand of a hard-working man and, well, it means a lot.

So that's enough blog housekeeping. Time for more content...

IBNN Blogger Don Allen Urges Citizens To "Take Back North Minneapolis," Calls Out 7 "Self Appointed Leaders," Plus Delightful Home Style Cooking!

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ADDENDUM: February 6, 2011. This blog post was written before I and many others in North Minneapolis discovered what a disreputable con man character Don Allen is. I would advise anybody: Do not trust Don Allen. Seek further information about Don Allen from various online sources before having any contact with him.

Don Allen of the IBNN blog, pictured above on the far right, is calling 'em as he sees 'em, and urging citizens to join him tomorrow, Saturday, May 2, in an effort to "take back North Minneapolis" from what Don calls "seven self-appointed black leaders." Click here for a link to Don's blog post about this event, which will be held at the SunnySide Cafe at 1720 Glenwood Ave. N.

Word is the event will go from...

...around 11 in the morning to about 2 PM. The choice to use the SunnySide Cafe is significant: Al McFarlane, who is kind of like Don's nemesis ("The Anti-Donny," if you will) often holds court at the SunnySide. ACCORDING TO DON ALLEN, Al McFarlane recently said Don must work for the "CIA or FBI." Let me tell you, my blog had a lot of fun with THAT, click here.

I understand the SunnySide serves basic, delicious home style food and they are even willing to cater. (This establishment is right across the street from the place where Lennie "The Heckler" Chism saw his small empire rise, only to dramatically crumble, click here)

Don Allen--who is always taking on the folks running things at the Minneapolis Urban League--has been spilling some interesting stuff on his blog, lately, and also letting hot information out in coy little dribs and drabs, click here for an example.

Anybody interested in more details should email Don Allen at info@ibnn.org or call Don at 612-986-0010.