The H.I.T is back after an extended break. I and the majority of the investigators took sometime off to bring the next generation into this world, but we are back now.
First I want everyone to read Jerry Freeman’s book In a Kick-Ass Sentimental Mood. The book is a very good read. I was initially scared to read it when I saw that it was over 700 pages long, but I was pleasantly surprised with how good it was and how it stayed true to Jerry’s social justice ideology.
The only criticism of the book, if you want to call it that, is the vocabulary used throughout the book may cause some readers not to completely read the book due to its outdated use. It’s no secret that English was taught a lot different and a lot better when Jerry went to school and this is evident by the ease in which he uses terms that I have only heard while watching old black-and-white TV shows with my grandmother. You can get the book on Amazon and its well worth the money.
Now moving on, many of you may not know but I resigned from the presidency of the Minneapolis NAACP back in April. I enjoyed my time in office but it was time to move on and I really didn’t feel like fighting battles of the past with people of the past. I wish the organization the best moving forward and I was honored to serve as its president.
Over the last two years, we have received request to investigate various issues but the one issue that we will not be investigating has to do with Harvest Prep and its founder. I really don’t care what people say about Eric Mahmoud because as far as I am concerned the work he has done with educating our children is more than any of those people who criticized him have done for our kids in their entire lifetime.
Having a child now and working in law enforcement for the past eight years, I can tell you that there is nothing — and I mean nothing — more important than educating our kids. The work and vision of Mr. Mahmoud and his wife have prevented many of our children from ending up in prison and he has provided the community with jobs.
Is he perfect? No, but who is? Now with that being said we have been conducting an investigation into the Northside Achievement Zone and we will be releasing the results of that investigation soon as it is still ongoing.
I will take the rest of the column to offer some reflections about the gay marriage movement and my admiration for those who spearheaded the successful push to legalize gay marriage. I use the term “those” loosely because I would challenge anyone to name the “leader” of the movement.
The pursuit of the eradication of marriage discrimination was more important to those who advocated for gay marriage than who was in “charge” of the movement. Those who advocated for gay marriage strategically laid in wait for the right opportunity to arise and they pounced on it once it did.
Communities of color should take note on how those who advocated for gay rights were able to successfully change the attitudes of people and come one step closer to ending racial discrimination in America. It’s not about who is in charge; it’s about the movement.
Communities of color were vital to the success of the gay marriage movement and I would challenge those in the gay rights movement, particularly White gay people, never to forget what people of color did for you. I believe that despite many religious reservations on behalf of those in communities of color they supported the ending of marriage discrimination because they know all too well what it feels like to be discriminated against. Again I would challenge members of the White gay community to never forget what communities of color did for you in your pursuit of equal rights.
Lastly, the city of Minneapolis will over go though a significant overhaul in terms of its elected officials this year. I will offer my opinion on the race for 5th Ward city council in this column and my commentary will cover different races in future columns.
I believe that Brett Buckner would be the best choice for the 5th Ward. I have had significant disagreements with Buckner over the years, but despite that I think based on the candidates running he is the best candidate with Mr. Yang being my second choice. The H.I.T. is back and I think you will like what we have coming.
Booker T Hodges welcomes reader responses to bhodges@spokesman-recorder.com.
Support Black local news
Help amplify Black voices by donating to the MSR. Your contribution enables critical coverage of issues affecting the community and empowers authentic storytelling.