A Dying Mothers Plea to the Minneapolis Urban League Falls on Deaf Ears

Regina Edwards is a 40 year old Black woman with 6 children who has lived in north Minneapolis for the last 6 years. Regina is dying of Pancreatic Cancer. The doctors say they cannot operate. 2 out 10 people get this cancer but by the time it’s diagnosed, it’s too late.  In the mix of it all her furnace is not working, her house is cold, and she has no food in her refrigerator due to her electricity being cut off. As we speak, (during this interview) she’s getting ready to go to chemotherapy at North Memorial Hospital. There is no one but her 18 year old daughter to take care of the siblings. No relatives, no grandparents…no one.

Regina has been a political activist and worked at the Urban League of Greater Madison and the City of Madison. She also has worked for the International Culinary School in Burnsville, Minnesota and graduated from Minneapolis Community Technical College in May with a degree in Culinary Arts. Regina’s path to education, wealth and independence was tracking in the right direction.

But there’s a lot more to Regina’s story. Besides having her new home robbed by the people who lived there before, after the landlord gave her the key without changing the locks the day before Thanksgiving, there has been a list of events that have happened to Regina that she needs to let out. So let’s start with the Minneapolis Urban League. Regina says she knew things where strange at the Minneapolis Urban League when the leadership was like, “the Pink Panther,” says Ms. Edwards, “These people don’t want to address any issue other than their paychecks. They creep around as if they are invisible.”

Regina said, “I’m tired of fighting. From the social workers at the hospital to Section 8 - there was no one available at the Minneapolis Urban League to address, assist, or advise me on what to do and how a dying mother can get assistance for herself and her children in a true time of need.” As I talk to her tonight, her young daughter wants to use the computer to do homework – but Regina says to her daughter, “You can’t plug the computer in when the heaters are plugged in because the fuse will blow in the basement.” Regina, doesn’t like going in the basement that has flooded this summer and is filled with mold. She has 4 of the children sleep in the bed with her to keep warm.

Regina did go to the Minneapolis Urban League to seek help and counseling services from Dr. Brovada who has a “boot camp” at the Minneapolis Urban League that helps families. Because of Regina’s list of issues, Ms. Edwards says, “It was a laugh; we had so much going on that they never called back. I even called when I was in the hospital, still no response.”

Regina was first diagnosed with Cancer on August 2, 2008 and went through an unsuccessful surgery; she sought help from the Minneapolis Urban League for her and her children which fell on deaf ears. Meantime her 15 year old daughter took a liking to skipping school and hanging out at the Minneapolis Urban League. Regina’s 15 year old daughter, a runaway was allegedly welcomed into one of the men’s homes who operate out of the MUL.  Now the 15 year old is 1 ½ months pregnant (allegedly) by a 19 year old that has told the mother (Regina), “She’s just 15, she can get an abortion.” Ms. Edwards says, “My daughter will not have an abortion! These people at the Minneapolis Urban League who smile in my face are the same ones responsible for my daughter getting pregnant. It’s a shame that the janitor at the Minneapolis Urban League knew my daughter was pregnant before I did. Where is the process for accountability?”

Regina goes on to say, “I have asked everyone at the Minneapolis Urban League to help me after my money was gone.” she asked, “What programs you have that I can be a part of to help keep my family together.” The only one that has shown any compassion or caring towards me was a couple of really nice ladies at the front desk. The men at the Urban League to include the local pastors that associate themselves with the MUL, Regina says, “I wouldn’t trust to bury me when I die.” Ms. Edwards was speaking about a fund that was to be set up to assist her and the children during this hard time. It has been alleged that there was monies collected that never got to Ms. Edwards.

Regina also says, “No one over north (Minneapolis) wants to be accountable for anything in the community. They all just worry about themselves. If the Minneapolis Urban League truly served the people of north Minneapolis, we would have more jobs, better schools, programs that worked and a future different than mine, which ultimately will be death!”

Doctors at North Memorial and Hennepin County Medical Center say that the cancer that Regina has in some cases can be avoided through exercise, healthy eating, nutritional education and a responsible community awareness of health disparities in the Black community. With all respect, this should be addressed by local social service agencies by partnering with local Universities and Hospitals to raise top-of-mind awareness to illnesses that affect the Black community more so than the mainstream; in some cases attributed to unhealthy diets, lack of food sources (food bank) and no money to make healthy choices. The Social Wellness Cluster at the Minneapolis Urban League has received dollars to address such issues on a monumental level but with the lack of leadership and process the message is muted to a quite whisper with no successful measurable results. “It’s not about catered parties at the Minneapolis Urban League to increase awareness about an illness; we need boots on the ground going door-to-door to engage the Black community. Those people act like they are too good to serve the people” says Ms. Edwards.

Is the University of Minnesota-North Side Partnership or UROC really the answer north Minneapolis needs? It’s been almost a year since a University and an Anthropologist ascended on north Minneapolis with all the grace of a Messiah. Still no one has address the high unemployment rates, no economic stimuli and the static feel of a blighted community. Also having the opportunity to meet with Dr. Robert Jones, D. Craig Taylor and Dr. Irma McClurin from the University of Minnesota we still don’t have a healthy source of food distribution like a co-op on the north side which they talked about with high hopes earlier this year.

The story continues. The Minneapolis Urban League has lost touch with the community. In a random survey taken on the corners of Penn Avenue and Plymouth Avenue in front of the Minneapolis Urban League, 20 people ages from 18 to 65 were asked two questions:

1. What does the Minneapolis Urban League do?

2. Who is the President of the Minneapolis Urban League?

Not one person knew what happens inside the piece of real estate sitting on the corners of Penn and Plymouth Avenue North or who the President was. Of course the people had an idea on what the agency should be doing – that’s a whole other story…soon to come.

What comes to mind is, where the leaders of the community are? Furthermore, where are the civil rights leaders? Take note, on Tuesday, December 09, 2008 a 25 year old Black man from Minneapolis named Quincy Smith was tazered to death by Minneapolis Police at 1035 Knox Avenue North…no Black organizations said a word. Reports allege he had a bad heart.

No one deserves to die like that – no matter what the circumstances were.

Last Friday at a community meeting I was asked why I went after the Black social service agencies so hard and why don’t I attack some “White people.” My answer to this person who sits on the Minneapolis Urban League Board was simple. I said, “I don’t get thousands of dollars each year from the Minneapolis Urban League for advertising. I never got dollars from Northway Community Trust or NRRC. By the way – have you signed the Conflict of Interest statement yet?”

“Black people who work at social service agencies in north Minneapolis that have put themselves in the positions of helping people have to “step up.” No longer will the mainstream tolerate Black organizations that claim stupidity and having no money to complete missions but serve themselves at the highest levels, wanting for nothing.

The innocence of not knowing about what is going on in the Black community doesn’t fly after today.

There’s a Black president!