“Everyone looks for conflict of interests but never looks at common interests. This is our problem, the Black Minnesotans curse and rationale for how easy it is for anyone to gentrify any neighborhood in Black Minnesota.” ~D. Allen

By Don Allen, Senior Editorial Columnist  

Any political inquiry needs a question. A question that might take a thought process that some do not access all of the time because of the blinding fed up-it-ness of the current political atmosphere.

I’m sure we all understand that knowledge іѕ thе understanding оf factual, рrосеdurаl аnd соnсерtuаl аѕресtѕ оf іnfоrmаtіоn thаt a person acquires through education, оbѕеrvаtіоn аnd еxреrіеnсе. It (knowledge), enhances the understanding-level оf mаnkіnd. It unearths thе realties оf time-space phenomena and gіvеѕ dеfіnіtе сluеѕ tо lіfе аnd lіfеlеѕѕ objects оf соѕmіс есоnоmу. I guess my next question would be: “Are we as Minnesota voters accessing knowledge as it pertains to changing our trajectory – or are we stuck behind the mainstream media’s version of self, body, representation and human outcomes?” Black Minnesotans generationally vote (without questions) for any member of the Minnesota DFL; I’m not saying it’s wrong – our right, but rather an attempt to ask Black voters and people that live in areas like north Minneapolis and across Minnesota, “If you’re fed up – then why do you keep voting against your personal progress?” There are three sides to every story; each story has a unique plot-twist that persuades listeners, watchers or readers to believe in it. Unfortunately, a story, fiction or non-fiction can be told from a perspective of deception that only the storyteller may have insights to why it is important for the public sphere to believe this version. Black Minnesotans have been made many promises to end generational disparities, but it seems the Negro problem is getting worse than ever. If there is such a thing as fixing an issue of culture, race, class and equity, then now is the time. How do we get to the point of cordial and diplomatic solutions before we implode.

Today it’s hard to tell because personally, I cannot stand the fringes of the left, nor right, and many the Black community members in 59B are being hoodwinked by a few dollars to “Get out the Vote” – you know, that’s okay…people have to make ends meet, I understand.

The race for the Minnesota legislature seat 59B is interesting for a few reasons, the first one being the incumbent Raymond Dehn.  Out of all of the local Black elected officials who represent large clusters of black-folk, here comes this mild-mannered white guy that isn’t afraid to shake anyone’s hand; he speaks to everyone; he returns most calls, unless he’s being trolled. Just having a person like Mr. Dehn in office should spell hope, change, and a re-birth for a community that has seen too many people violently unemployed and killed   One thing I do know during Mr. Dehn’s tenure as the state representative for 59B, many of our Black self-appointed leaders sometimes (in my opinion), expected Dehn to always go ‘with the planned direction of the package,” – he didn’t.

This is not attempt to make a case for race just because a Black Republican is running in an area full of poor, unengaged people of color – but more to look at where we have been as a marker to show that a historical vote is imminent, and the political race in 59B could be the one that starts the wheels of change for Black persons in Minnesota.

You know what, as an editorial columnist I’m not going to tell you who to vote for, but I am definitely going to ask you is if you are willing to accept the responsibility of the sameness each voting cycle. If so, you then accept the status quo and that everyone in 59B must be working, there are no homeless families, and jobs are right down the street?

Below is a copy of candidate Lacy Johnson’s Letter to Voters in 59B.

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