Mpls. Urban League turns 90 in a 'hard year for black people'

A gala marking 90 years of the Minneapolis Urban League took stock of what the organization's president and CEO Steve Belton called a "hard year in Minnesota for black people."

Hundreds of people gathered at the downtown Hilton Thursday night to celebrate work for the African-American community, and observe where the state is failing.

In his speech, Belton said Minnesota lags behind other states in income equality between whites and blacks.

He also drew applause when he sharply criticized the lack of charges in the police shooting death of 24-year-old Jamar Clark in north Minneapolis in November.

"This spring the black community felt assaulted by the tag-team conclusions of the county attorney and the U.S. attorney that Jamar Clark's police killers were justified and no charges would be brought against them. That felt like an assault to me," Belton said.

Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman had said he found the use of force in Clark's death was justified. And U.S. Attorney Andrew Luger said the evidence wasn't sufficient to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the two Minneapolis police officers involved in Clark's shooting willfully violated Clark's civil rights.

The Minneapolis Urban League leader said with the help of state Sens. Bobby Joe Champion and Jeff Hayden, both Democrats from Minneapolis, and state Rep. Rena Moran, DFL-St. Paul, as well as Gov. Mark Dayton, several community and advocacy groups were able to "push through a historic equity bill this session that appropriated $35 million dollars to equity initiatives. That was a historic occasion."

Dayton and groups including the Urban League had requested $100 million. But Hayden said in May that legislators were committed to increasing the amount over the coming years.

At the gala, Antwanette Bradley described being unemployed when she enrolled in the Urban League's Business Employment Solutions Training program.

"From there, I've been able to support my child [and get] out of a domestic situation. If it had not been for the Urban League, I wouldn't be here today, absolutely not," said Bradley, who is now a patient assistant coordinator at Abbott Northwestern Hospital.

The Urban League also awarded $1,000 to four high school students: Dezi Richardson of FAIR School in downtown Minneapolis, Jada Stumon of the Blake Upper School, Austin Vue of Patrick Henry High School, and Jamilla Bennett from the PYC Arts and Tech School.