PRST STD U.S.POSTAGE PAID TWIN CITIES MN PERMIT NO. 6391
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Find a watchlist highlighting U.S. politics on page 7.
Celebrating 90 years of Black journalistic excellence.
October 3 - 9, 2024
Vol. 91
Phone: 612-827-4021 www.spokesman-recorder.com
No. 10
A banner year for MSR publisher continues
Fighting racism in the birthing industry By Binta Kanteh Contributing Writer
MSR Publisher/CEO Tracey Williams-Dillard delivers acceptance speech after becoming one of Business Journal’s Most Admired CEOs on September 25. Photo by Steve Floyd
Tracey Williams-Dillard honored among Most Admired CEOs
Tim Baylor - CEO of JADT Develoment Group, LLC
Amy Ronneberg - CEO of NMDP
Brian Ryks - CEO of Metropolitan Airports Commission
Todd Archbold - CEO of PrairieCare
By Al Brown Assignment Editor
man-Recorder (MSR), was recognized among ten esteemed recipients of the Minneapolis n an inspiring celebration St.Paul Business Journal’s of leadership and com- Most Admired CEOs award on munity impact, Tracey September 25. This honor acWilliams-Dillard, CEO and pub- knowledges influential leaders lisher of the Minnesota Spokes- who drive positive change and
Ken Smith - CEO of District Energy St. Paul
Margaret Murphy - CEO of Bold Orange Co.
shape the future of Minnesota through their professional and community endeavors. Tracey Williams-Dillard stands out not only for her leadership but also for her rich heritage as a third-generation publisher of the state’s oldest Black business
Patricia Chinander - CEO of Love from USA Group Inc.
Simone Xavier - CEO of Sigma Beauty
and one of the nation’s oldest Black-owned newspapers. This year also marks a significant milestone for the Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder as it celebrates its 90th anniversary of continuous operations—a testament to the enduring legacy of
David Saber - CEO of Park Financial Group, Inc.
journalism that prioritizes equity, representation, and community engagement. Reflecting on what leadership means to her, WilliamsDillard articulated a philosophy that combines courage, ■ See BANNER YEAR on page 5 Sameerah Bilal-Roby, founder and director, AABC Photo by Chris Juhn
Black women are missing four times longer than white women Second in a series By Al Brown Assignment Editor n recent years, the issue of missing women, particularly Black and Indigenous women, has gained national attention. This concern is particularly acute in Minnesota, where stark disparities in missing persons cases reflect systemic inequities in law enforcement response and societal awareness. The ongoing case of Joanne Rulford, who vanished from her North Minneapolis home in 1988, serves as a tragic reminder of the long-standing gaps in the treatment of missing persons cases based on race.
oulas, doctors, nurses, and researchers recently descended on the campus of the Amherst H. Wilder Foundation to learn from each other how they can continue to identify the roots and extinguish the adverse impacts of institutional racism on Black and Brown women working in the birthing industry. The summit, which celebrated its fifth year Sept.1920, was hosted by the African American Babies Coalition and Projects (AABC), an initiative within the Wilder Foundation’s community impact division. One of the highlights of this year’s summit was the participation of Dr. Camara Phyllis Jones, an epidemiologist and family physician who is also a renowned leader in the theory of racism as a public health crisis. Dr. Jones held this notion long before the declaration took hold across the country following the murder of George Floyd.
“I came to this summit because this is a topic I care deeply about—I work in this space, and because Dr. Camara Jones was the keynote speaker,” said Abiola Abu-Bakr, a Nigerian-American doula and healthcare innovation consultant, on what moved her to attend the Underreported and overlooked summit. “She has been a public The frustrations voiced by health idol of mine and has set families of missing women the foundations for the work of color often echo the same I do today and the way I view theme: a lack of urgency and the role of racism in health outresources directed toward comes, not just how I view it investigating their disappear- but how I talk about it through ances. As seen in the case of the work that I do,” Abu-Bakr also sent a mesJoanne Rulford, law enforcement not only fails to keep sage to those who couldn’t atadequate records but often tend the summit: “Minnesota, year, there were 89,020 Black involving Black females out of allows cases to stagnate or fall specifically the Twin Cities, A staggering disparity has a dynamic birth worker into obscurity. The FBI’s National Crime In- women and girls of all ages re- the 93,718 open files. In contrast, the number of In Rulford’s case, the lack community. It feels so good to formation Center Missing Per- corded as missing persons. At ■ See MISSING WOMEN on know that we have a dynamic son and Unidentified Person the end of 2021, there were missing white women does page 5 conference here in the Twin database indicates that last 14,323 active missing cases not match this alarming staCities, and it brings together so many birth workers, people ■ See BIRTHING on page 5 tistic. The national narrative also suggests that Indigenous and Latina women experience similar crises, with their cases often classified under broader categories, rendering precise quantification difficult.
White House announces new measures to curb gun violence
By Stacy M. Brown
Vice President Kamala Harris Anthony Tilghman/The Washington Informer
resident Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris announced Thursday sweeping new measures to combat gun violence in America, marking a significant escalation in the administration’s ongoing efforts to reduce firearm-related deaths. Central to this initiative is a new executive order that directs federal agencies to address the rising threats posed by machine gun conversion devices and 3D-printed firearms and to improve the effectiveness of school-based
active shooter drills. The White House said the steps build on the administration’s already extensive record in gun violence prevention. Since taking office, the BidenHarris administration said it has worked to address the alarming spike in violent crime left by the previous administration. The American Rescue Plan allocated over $15 billion to law enforcement and public safety strategies, focusing on community violence interventions. In June 2022, Biden signed the Bipartisan Safer Commu-
nities Act, which the White House called the most significant gun violence prevention law passed in nearly three decades. A year later, the administration established the White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention, a ground-breaking program under Vice President Harris’ direction. The administration said this decisive leadership has had tangible results: In 2023, the U.S. witnessed the sharpest decline in homicide rates in recent history, a trend that has only accelerated into 2024. From January to June, homicides ■ See GUN VIOLENCE on page 5