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THE VOICE OF BLACK MINNESOTA SINCE 1934
May 4 - 10, 2023
Vol. 89
No. 40
Phone: 612-827-4021
www.spokesman-recorder.com
Champion of second chances MSR interviews political powerbroker and Minnesota Senate President Bobby Joe Champion
By Abdi Mohamed Contributing Writer t’s been a month since Governor Tim Walz signed a bill to reinstate voting rights to over 50,000 of those who were previously incarcerated, making Minnesota the 22nd state in the country to automatically restore voting rights once an individual is released from prison. The effort to restore voting rights to ex-offenders has been several years in the making and has risen to the state’s highest court. The Minnesota Supreme Court has been considering the constitutionality of the matter since 2019, when the American Civil Liberties Union in Minnesota argued that the state’s constitution guaranteed some voting rights, and the ban disproportionately affected people of color. Earlier this year, the state Supreme Court came to the ruling that the law barring felons from the polls until their sentences were complete was constitutional. The court’s ruling signaled that the issue was now imperative for lawmakers to pass legislation in order for tens of thousands of Minnesotans to have their voting rights restored. That responsibility fell to Senate President Bobby Joe Champion and his colleagues in the Minnesota State House and Senate, who were willing to take it on. He and other state legis-
come and others would have a red sticker that says, ‘I Voted,’ they say their voice was silenced.” Although this issue is something that impacts people of color, Champion underlines the fact that this is an issue that reaches across a large swath of communities. According to the data Champion and his colleagues worked with, 36 percent of the individuals who are set to have their voting rights restored are from Hennepin and Ramsey counties and 64 percent are from greater Minnesota. Senator Champion recently spoke to the Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder about the work that went into passing this bill and what he sees next on his legislative agenda regarding criminal justice reform. MSR: What’s the background for this law? Champion: The file has been affectionately Minnesota Senate powerbroker Bobby Joe Champion Photo by Chris Juhn known as “Restore the Vote” ever since I’ve been in the legislature, and as long as I’ve been lators were able to move their respective bills individuals to participate in democracy. working on this initiative. Before me, it was At“They say if you want people to be successbetween the House and Senate days later, cultorney General Ellison. He was working on this minating in the moment when Gov. Walz signed ful and reintegrate into society, and you want along with Linda Higgins, who was my predethe bill on March 3. The law will go into effect to decrease recidivism, and you want to make cessor in the Senate. on July 1, when 55,000 Minnesotans will be sure that individuals are not going to re-offend, We understand that the bedrock of any deable to participate, without restrictions, in the you make sure that they can be a part of the mocracy is to be able to hear an individual’s most fundamental democratic process—voting. fabric of our democracy,” he said. “They [those voice. Your vote is your voice. So there in this Senator Champion sees this change as a who have been incarcerated] said they often felt statute, Minnesota statute, Section 609.165 critical step in the effort to reduce recidivism dehumanized, less than, especially with when it ■ See CHAMPION on page 5 rates in the state and allow a second chance for would come to voting. When that day would
Tribute to a Renaissance Man By Charles Hallman Staff Contributor rchie Givens, Jr., was known locally and nationally as a businessman, philanthropist, and a humanitarian. But perhaps more importantly to many of those who knew him personally from other places and spaces, Givens was best remembered as a dependable friend. “Archie Givens was just a good dude. And he never did it for a show,” recalled Dr. Peter Hayden, founder and director of Turning Point, the Minneapolis-based nonprofit. Givens died on April 19, 2023, at age 78, after several years of battling Alzheimer’s disease. “When I started Turning Point,” continued Hayden, “he was al-
Over the years, Givens was the University of Minnesota, munity Library in St. Paul, and a member of many boards, in- where he played football from senior housing projects around cluding the University of Min- 1963 to 1966. He was a huge the Twin Cities, including Edina. nesota and Penumbra Theatre. supporter of Gopher sports, Archie Jr. and his sister “He was never on my board,” especially men’s basketball Roxanne, with their parents’ admitted Hayden, “but he was where he was a regular fixture influence, gave back to the always there for me. When at games. He also was the only community in so many ways, I go to see Archie, he always Black member asked to serve especially in the arts and on coaching search commit- culture. The Givens family, had some time for me.” Hayden easily recalled how tees, and once was president of along with 12 other families much his friend was there for the school’s alumni association. in the community, initially put him in times of tragedy–like The Givens family was seen up the money to purchase when his then 25-year-old as Minnesota’s first Black mil- a 3,000-piece collection of daughter Taylor was killed by lionaires. The family, Archie, Sr. Black literature and other Harcrossfire in Atlanta in 2016. and his wife, Phebe, built a suc- lem Renaissance artifacts in “When my daughter was cessful real estate development the mid-1980s from a New taken from us seven years ago,” business. As an adult, Archie Jr. York collection. More than a said Hyden. “When I rolled up took over the reins and led the decade earlier, Givens started to the church (for the funeral), business into the 21st century. The Givens Foundation for the first person out there waitGivens’ Legacy Manage- African American Literature The late Archie Givens, Jr. ing for me was Archie.” ment & Development Corp. that would provide scholarGivens was born in Minne- built 900 homes at the North- ships for Black students to atways there. He would open his tial to getting his operation up apolis on April 30, 1944, and side’s Heritage Park housing tend college. The literary works door for you.” When Hayden and running, Givens provided a later graduated from Minne- development, a 123-acre site. purchased by Givens led to the apolis Central High School and He also built the Rondo Comneeded office equipment essen- Xerox machine to use. ■ See GIVENS on page 5
Standoff ends in deadly FBI shooting in North Minneapolis By H. Jiahong Pan Contributing Writer ast Thursday afternoon, federal agents shot and killed a suspect in North Minneapolis while they were helping local officials serve a warrant. The shooting occurred around noon at Dowling and Dupont Avenue. The victim, 33-year-old Chue Feng Yang, was taken to North Memorial Hospital where he later died. Although MPD officers were on the scene, Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said none of his officers opened fire. Hennepin County Sheriff Dawanna Witt said that although her deputies used force, they did not kill Yang. Witnesses who live on the block where the shooting occurred say that the standoff started at 6 am. “I saw police and sheriffs make a U-turn and thought they were pulling someone over.” said a neighbor who declined to be identified. “A couple of minutes later, I looked outside and saw they were still there. I thought, ‘This is a long ticket!’ Then I heard someone say through a loudspeaker, ‘Stay in your home, this is a dangerous situation.’” The children of a neighbor who lived
Active shooter incidents decrease while number killed increases in 2022 By Stacy M. Brown
in the report were incidents involving self-defense, gang violence, drug violence, domestic disputes, hostage situations, and other illegal acts. While there was a drop from 2021 to 2022, an FBI official told reporters on a call that there has been an overall increase in the frequency of active shooter situations over the past 20 years, especially over the last five years. There were 18 percent fewer active shooter incidents
ast Wednesday, the FBI revealed numbers showing a decline in active shooter situations and an increase in the number of victims shot in the United States during 2022. The FBI defined an active shooter as “one or more individuals actively engaged in killing or attempting to kill people in a populated area” but stressed that their report is not comprehensive. Not included ■ See INCIDENTS on page 5 (l-r) MPD Chief Brian O’Hara and Hennepin County Sheriff Dawanna Witt at the scene of the standoff with Chue Feng Yang. Photo by Chris Juhn near where Yang was killed said they saw two high-school-age children run from the home towards a police car before Yang was later shot. Although the neighbor’s children go to school with one of those who fled the house, they did not know the high school children that well and hardly saw them around the neighborhood. A federal warrant for Yang’s arrest
showed he was wanted for assaulting a federal officer and potentially possessing firearms, which is prohibited for someone convicted of a felony. Yang was also wanted on unrelated warrants in Hennepin and Ramsey counties, one of which was related to a probation violation for a conviction involving a 2021 carjacking.
■ See STANDOFF on page 5
MGN