Congresswoman Ilhan Omar has introduced a bill to cancel all rent and mortgage payments nationwide during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Rent and Mortgage Cancellation Act would constitute a full payment forgiveness, with no accumulation of debt for renters or homeowners and no negative impact on their credit rating or rental history, according to Rep. Omar's press statement sent to...
A spate of recent news accounts reveals what many experts have feared: Black communities in the U.S. are experiencing some of the highest fatality rates from COVID-19. But without an understanding of the policy contexts that have shaped conditions in Black-majority neighborhoods, one may assume the rapid spread of the coronavirus there is caused by the individual behaviors of...
Twin Cities attorney Ngozi Akubuike has her sights set on a new position. After a long multi decade legal career Akubuike is running to be a Ramsey County judge.
Akubuike is no stranger to public service. “I have been an advocate for some time,” she said. The litigator has experience working with both state and county governments as well as...
The COVID-19 pandemic has upended everything. While Governor Tim Walz’s stay-at-home order has affected everyone, its effect has had a significant toll on the lives of African immigrant seniors and disabled individuals. They used to rely on adult day care centers and restaurants in the neighborhood for daily meals but the shutdowns have forced them to worry about immediate...
Mshale interviewed Minnesota Lt. Governor Peggy Flanagan today on the state's COVID-19 response and impact on the African immigrant business community as well as the broader community. Lt. Governor Flanagan is the second Native American woman elected to statewide executive office in the United States and first minority woman elected to a statewide office in Minnesota.
Interview has been edited...
Qorsho Hassan, a fifth grade teacher at Gideon Pond Elementary School in the Burnsville-Eagan-Savage School District is among ten finalists for this year's Minnesota Teacher of the Year, Education Minnesota, the statewide 86,000 member educators union announced today. Education Minnesota organizes the annual Teacher of the Year program.
There were 135 candidates in the running before the panel selected the...
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz delivered his annual State of the State address on Sunday, April 6, 2020 from the Governor’s Residence instead of to a joint session of the Legislature at the Capitol as is the custom while the state is in a stay in place order he gave during the coronavirus pandemic. Governor Walz has been in self-quarantine...
Today April 1 is Census Day and state and local government officials have been using the weeks leading up to it to encourage all residents to participate in the national 2020 census.
The once a decade opportunity makes it imperative that every Minnesotan, whether a citizen or not, even if undocumented is counted, said Brooklyn Park Community Liaison Brenda Morales...
The coronavirus has taken the lives of two elderly African musicians in Paris: Manu Dibango, a Cameroonian saxophone and vibraphone superstar, and Aurlus Mabele, the king of Congolese soukous music. National Public Radio's Nairobi-based Eyder Peralta remembers the two. Mabele died on March 19, 2020 and Dibango died five days later on March 24, 2020.
Editor's note: Since the publishing of this story on March 27, there is an update from the African Development Center of Minnesota on how to apply for the emergency loans that you can read at this link.
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz on Monday through executive order 201-5 announced the creation of a $30 million fund to lend money to small...
Troubling times can make us feel useless, like our hands are tied and there’s little we can do to help. The Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) offer a few simple steps you can take to help reduce the risk of catching or sharing Coronavirus Diseases 2019 (COVID-19).
WASH YOUR HANDS
That’s...
