Community
Council member on racism, changing face of Brooklyn Center
MINNESOTA SPOKESMAN – RECORDER — Brooklyn Center City Council Member April Graves is looking to change the face and landscape of the city’s political system.
Brooklyn Center City Council Member April Graves is looking to change the face and landscape of the city’s political system by working within it. Now into her second term, she has learned to appreciate the virtues of deliberation and consensus-building in governing.
According to RoadSnack, Brooklyn Center has the largest Black population in the state. Nearly 30 percent of the city’s residents are African American or are of African descent. Yet, Graves noted, until recently the council did not look like its residents.
“When I first ran [in 2014], there was no one of color on the council or running. No women — especially single mothers like myself, which make up a fair amount of the population. It didn’t make sense in a city this diverse.”
That diversity is something she feels well qualified to appreciate and served as her impetus to run. “I’m used to being a bridge builder between different views or perspectives. I come from a very mixed family. My mom’s White, my dad’s Black. I also have cousins and niece and nephews who are Native and Asian American,” she said.
“The council should be representative of the city in which we live. I thought I could bring a voice to the conversation that hadn’t been there in its history.”
Growing up in St. Paul’s historic Rondo neighborhood, she was a teen mother of four who persevered, obtaining a bachelor of the arts degree in social science and creative writing from Metropolitan State University. In 2013, she served a term of service through AmeriCorps at Brooklyn Center High School.
People of color in political positions are in a system that [remains] racist and was set up to keep us out. It’s not easy to automatically make changes.
In addition to serving on the council part-time, Graves also whets her social-political engagement skills at the Minneapolis Health Department Adolescent Health and Youth Development Division, preventing youth and teen dating violence in North Minneapolis. She has also worked as a youth engagement coordinator at a North Minneapolis youth arts organization and on the Minneapolis Youth Coordinating Board’s Outreach and Engagement team.
Graves spoke recently with the MSR about critical issues, reflecting on her first term. Here is our conversation, edited for clarity.
MSR: As an incumbent, what are your greatest challenges?
April Graves: A lot of the first term was about building relationships with other council members. Getting them to feel comfortable talking about issues that tend to be uncomfortable for White people, like racial equity, the intersections of economics, opportunity and accessibility.
MSR: What have been some successes?
AG: We passed a resolution around racial economic equity. I was able to push an initiative related to the community center and youth. It wasn’t very welcoming to young people and families. We now offer more free programming through the center for families, where in the past there wasn’t much of that going on. [We needed] to get them to utilize this resource and not have the cost be a barrier. We expanded our youth jobs program.
We’ve increased the diversity of our leadership. More people of color are on the staff. We have a Black city manager, Curt Boganey — he’s been there awhile. There are also Deputy City Manager Reggie Edwards; African American and Communication Coordinator Angel Smith, who is a Black woman; [as well as] Neighborhood Engagement Liaisons Cindy Devonish, Sheku Samba and Corey Weatherspoon.
MSR: Anything else?
AG: I advocated for liaisons for the Park & Recreation Commission. We also have community engagement specialists through the City Hall office. Those are some of the big things I was able to push through long conversations and building trust [and] bringing other council members to realize it’s something needed to effectively serve the diversity of our city.
MSR: That’s a pretty impressive list. What are you working on now?
AG: We recently hired a small business and development workforce coordinator. That was something I advocated hard for: to have a small-business incubator.
When I ran the first time, I talked about [having] a mini-global market, where small business owners and entrepreneurs who lack the resources to open a storefront could build businesses and share the rich cultural foods, traditions, music [and] art that really make Brooklyn Center a cool place to live. We need to work in these areas.
Small business growth will be a huge part of how the City continues to be viable as an attraction to people that don’t live in the city, as well as a resource for those who do. I hope to see the small business incubator. I don’t know exactly how it will look, but I’m optimistic that it will happen.
MSR: What more do you want to see take place?
AG: Now that we have more staff to focus on community engagement, we need to be intentional and strategic about involving our community in the decision-making process. Often, it’s not about hosting events at City Hall, but about going out into the community and connecting with [citizens] — whether that’s partnering better with the schools, with other parks, libraries, and other businesses to make sure there’s a sense of belonging and community and collaboration on issues the city is facing.
I would also like to see improvement in our policing. I don’t get the data I’d like from our police department, and that’s something I’ve talked at length about at the council and with the city manager. I’m optimistic the city manager and Police Chief Tim Gannon are working on it, but a lot more can be done.
MSR: Like what?
AG: The multicultural advisory committee is important, but there are ways it could be better utilized. For instance, to get our officers to be more culturally competent and to help problem solve when culture is a barrier between the officer and who they’re interacting with.
Also, immigration issues, particularly [as it concerns] the Liberian community. A lot of them are scared under DED and Temporary Protected Status. Both are about to expire.
Other immigrant communities are affected as well. It’s putting a lot of families in fear. It economically impacts our community, strongly, because they pay taxes. They go to schools. They live in and contribute to our community in multiple ways.
A huge section of our population just [might be] unceremoniously kicked out of the country, [told] you don’t have the right to be here anymore, particularly after people have been here for decades and put down roots.
MSR: Where do you see the impact of President Trump’s prevailing attitudes and procedures in this?
AG: That’s the problem. If you think about it, the attitude toward immigrants from people like our current president is ridiculous, because none of us would be here besides the indigenous people of America without immigration.
I prefer to focus on solutions we can bring at the local level, [like] who I can work and collaborate with to help the community. Every year, we take our legislative priorities and send them to our representatives at the state level. This issue of immigration status, which affects all of us, should be one of the highest priorities.
MSR: How has your perception of the position changed since you first took your seat?
AG: The first couple of years, I did a lot of watching and listening. I spoke up when it was necessary. I’ve always hated that government moves slow. I now understand it better. Sometimes, I still feel we need to stop talking and act. Other times, it’s important to be deliberate, discuss matters, and build consensus on how things will impact those who are most affected.
MSR: How do you see yourself serving the community now?
AG: I always considered myself to be a community organizer and activist, not a politician. I still feel that way, though I’m an elected official. Especially for communities of color, it’s difficult to support a candidate and then be frustrated when you don’t see the changes you want to see.
What powers, what controls do we have to switch this corrupt system that’s been in place for years that disproportionately, negatively impacts people of color? And as soon we get leadership of color, we want to see things change immediately.
I do, too. But, we need to recognize that people of color in political positions are in a system that [remains] racist and was set up to keep us out. It’s not easy to automatically make changes.
All types of approaches are needed. There are those who need to be calling out racism and discrimination, shutting down traffic. There is also the need for people to sit at the table and say things that need to be said in a way the opposition can hear in order to move issues forward.
This article originally appeared in the Minnesota Spokesman – Recorder.
Business
Oakland Children’s Hospital Workers and Patients Rally for Pediatric Medical Care
OAKLAND POST — “Children who go through a bone marrow transplant are immunocompromised, meaning that their immune system has been wiped out,” and having to take public transport to San Francisco exposes patients to the risk of getting a dangerous infection, said Paola Portillo, a social worker.
Staff, patients’ families, and supporters held a rally recently at UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital in Oakland to protest the hospital’s decision to relocate specialized treatment clinics to San Francisco.
Protesters said the move is creating barriers for patients to access care and raised concerns over whether the hospital was appropriately using funds partially designated for pediatric services.
In response, hospital officials say they are concentrating resources for highly specialized procedures so patients can receive the highest quality of care.
One of the speakers at the rally, Paola Portillo, a social worker, said the hospital started transferring the clinics a year ago when UCSF Health integrated with the Children’s Hospital Oakland, located at 747 52nd St. in North Oakland.
According to Portillo, patients who need bone marrow treatments and interventional radiology are forced to travel to UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital in San Francisco, which can be dangerous, she said.
“Children who go through a bone marrow transplant are immunocompromised, meaning that their immune system has been wiped out,” and having to take public transport to San Francisco exposes patients to the risk of getting a dangerous infection, she said.
UCSF spokesperson Kristen Bole says the move improves the hospital’s quality of care, giving bone marrow treatment (BMT) as an example.
“Inpatient BMT is a highly complex service where patient volume, specialized infrastructure, faculty coverage and 24/7 support are essential,” she said in a statement. “Concentrating non-gene therapy inpatient BMT care at Mission Bay allows us to provide the safest and most sustainable model for patients and families.”
Hospital officials also emphasized that moving care was not a one-way street. Beginning this month, patients admitted for rehabilitative treatment have been directed to the children’s hospital in Oakland, Bole said.
Speakers at the rally also claimed UCSF has not been transparent about how it has allocated funding from 2020’s Measure C, a measure that created a half-percent sales tax that partially funded pediatric health care at the children’s hospital.
“The community fought so hard for Measure C because every child deserves access to lifesaving, pediatric, high-quality care right here in Oakland,” said Agnes Cho, a policy advisor speaking on behalf of Alameda County Supervisor Nikki Fortunato Bas. “The funding should go towards strengthening care for children right here in Oakland.”
Protesters also said UCSF’s $3.3 billion endowment has been misused. Last October, the University Professional & Technical Employees union published a report on the University of California’s spending, which highlighted projects such as the $4.3 billion UCSF Helen Diller Medical Center at Parnassus Heights.
“What I have a problem with is saying the kids from the East Bay have to go to San Francisco to get care, so that UC can build a fancy hospital for its richest patients in San Francisco,” said union President Dan Russell.
The UCSF spokesperson said UCSF has been investing in its Oakland campus, explaining that upgrades that are expected to be completed in 2030 at a cost of $1.6 billion.
“Oakland is central to our pediatric health system, and we are making the largest investment in the campus’ history,” the spokeswoman said. “We do not make investments of this scale in a campus, workforce or community we plan to leave behind.”
This article includes coverage from Bay City News Service and media releases.
Black History
Opinion: When Politicians Start Sanitizing One Chapter of History, They’re Coming After The Whole Book
OAKLAND POST — The White House recently released a report criticizing the Smithsonian for supposedly promoting “anti-White activism” and other ideological sins. Buried inside is something even more troubling. The report argues Americans shouldn’t think of the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 primarily as a racist law. Instead, we’re told it was about national security.
I came to Winnipeg to perform my one-man show, 69, Emil Amok: Anchorman—The News Made Me Do It.
I didn’t expect to leave with another lesson about America.
It came over dim sum.
After the show, Shirley—a Chinese Canadian—and her friend Chris, a Sri Lankan-Mauritian Canadian—insisted on taking me to a restaurant in Winnipeg’s Chinatown.
A Filipino American. A Chinese Canadian. A Sri Lankan-Mauritian Canadian.
The United Nations, if it served dumplings.
Then Shirley told me about her father.
He arrived from China at 14 years old, speaking no English. The school put him in second grade just to learn the language. Once he caught up, they skipped him to ninth grade.
Two years later, he was working.
He opened a restaurant.
It burned down.
He opened another.
Eventually he bought a café in rural Manitoba serving chop suey, burgers, steaks and fries.
The Good Way Café became the place everybody gathered. Rock and roll played from the jukebox until midnight.
Her father, Arthur Mar, built a business, employed people and became part of his community.
Sound familiar?
It should.
It’s the same immigrant story Americans love to celebrate.
Until politics gets involved.
Because before Arthur Mar could build anything, Canada made him pay a $500 Chinese head tax—a fortune in the 1920s.
When that didn’t keep enough Chinese out, Canada passed its own Chinese Exclusion Act.
Different country.
Same racism.
Canada has spent decades admitting what it did.
The Trump administration wants America to do the opposite.
The White House recently released a report criticizing the Smithsonian for supposedly promoting “anti-White activism” and other ideological sins.
Buried inside is something even more troubling.
The report argues Americans shouldn’t think of the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 primarily as a racist law.
Instead, we’re told it was about national security.
Funny how those two words have always been available whenever politicians want to discriminate against somebody.
Black Americans have heard that song before.
Slave patrols became public safety.
Jim Crow became states’ rights.
Mass incarceration became law and order.
Same melody.
Different verse.
History has a way of putting racism in a respectable suit.
When politicians begin sanitizing one chapter of history, they’re coming after the whole book.
Communities of color don’t have identical histories.
But we recognize familiar tactics.
About the Author
Emil Guillermo is an award-winning journalist, commentator and comic monologist. He performs “69, Emil Amok: Anchorman—The News Made Me Do It” at the Winnipeg Fringe Festival, July 16–26.
Get Tix: https://www.winnipegfringe.com/performer-detail.aspx?kw=Emil+Amok+Productions
Follow him at YouTube.com/@emilamok1.
Commentary
NPRC to Meet with California Attorney General’s Office on to Urge Guardianship Reform
OAKLAND POST — Black has been a professor of law and finance at Northwestern University and Northwestern Pritzker School of Law since 2010. Before joining Northwestern, he served on the faculties of Stanford University, Columbia University, and the University of Texas at Austin, earning international recognition as one of America’s foremost empirical legal scholars.
The National Probate Reform Coalition (NPRC) has announced that Bernard ‘Bernie’ Black, a nationally respected legal scholar, will meet with California Assistant Attorney General Eleanor Blume on July 27 to discuss the urgent need for guardianship, conservatorship, and probate reform.
The meeting marks another important step in NPRC’s effort to encourage California’s governor and attorney general to take a leadership role in addressing systemic abuse, financial exploitation, and the lack of meaningful oversight within probate and guardianship courts.
Black has been a professor of law and finance at Northwestern University and Northwestern Pritzker School of Law since 2010. Before joining Northwestern, he served on the faculties of Stanford University, Columbia University, and the University of Texas at Austin, earning international recognition as one of America’s foremost empirical legal scholars.
Despite his legal expertise, Black says neither his knowledge nor his professional reputation protected his family from what he describes as a deeply flawed guardianship system.
Following the death of his mother in 2012, Black’s sister, Joanne, who had lived with schizophrenia for more than 35 years, became the beneficiary of approximately two-thirds of their mother’s $4 million estate through a special needs trust established to provide for her lifetime care.
Seeking to preserve his mother’s estate plan and protect Joanne’s eligibility for public benefits, Black petitioned the Denver Probate Court for a temporary conservatorship and requested judicial approval for actions necessary to preserve assets. According to Black, the case initially appeared to proceed appropriately. Both the court-appointed counsel and a guardian ad litem supported his proposed conservatorship plan.
Black says the case later took a dramatically different turn.
According to Black, court-appointed professionals used family disagreements to seize control of the family trusts. What followed was 12 years of litigation and 96 probate court decisions, resulting in millions of dollars in professional fees.
Black says repeated settlement proposals intended to preserve assets for his sister’s benefit were rejected. He also strongly disputes adverse findings made by the probate court against him, his wife, and his son, arguing the court lacked jurisdiction over members of his family. Appeals were unsuccessful, reinforcing his concern that probate courts exercise extraordinary discretion with insufficient oversight.
Joanne Black passed away on Aug. 14, 2025. Black contends that millions of dollars that should have benefited his sister and preserved his family’s legacy have instead been consumed by litigation and administrative expenses. He continues to fight efforts to deplete the remaining family trusts.
“My sister has died, yet the Denver Probate Court and the guardianship professionals are still pursuing what is left of our family’s money,” Black said. “I’m talking millions of dollars.”
Black believes his family’s experience demonstrates that even experienced attorneys can become overwhelmed by a probate system that often lacks transparency and accountability.
Joining Black at the July 27 meeting will be Rick Black, founder of the Center for Estate Administration Reform (CEAR), who will present his organization’s proposed Victims’ Bill of Rights for individuals and families involved in probate and guardianship proceedings.
Together with the NPRC, they will urge the Attorney General’s Office to investigate fraud, financial exploitation, and predatory practices while aggressively enforcing existing laws that protect elders, disabled adults, and vulnerable families.
NPRC asserts California’s Attorney General, as the state’s chief law enforcement officer, has both the authority and responsibility to investigate fraud, public corruption, and financial exploitation occurring within probate courts.
The Coalition also hopes California will lead a national initiative by working with attorneys general across the country to develop coordinated enforcement strategies and meaningful reforms that restore integrity, transparency, and accountability to probate courts nationwide.
Bernard Black’s experience echoes hundreds of similar stories documented by probate reform advocates throughout the nation. His message to the Attorney General is both simple and sobering:
“If this can happen to one of America’s most respected law professors, it can happen to anyone.”
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