By Twin Cities Daily Planet 
I visited Karen Amit's English as a Second Language classroom at Cedar-Riverside Plaza. She uses repetition, encouragement and, as she puts it, lots of big-gestured "Italian talking" to reach her students.
I'm researching a multimedia project on the adult ESL program, which is based out of the Riverside Plaza Tenants Association (RPTA) office. It serves close to 400 students a year, according to RPTA Director Fredda Scobey and Interim Education Coordinator Craig Erickson. This number includes men and women from Somalia, Ethiopia, South Vietnam and other countries. They range from 18-year-old job seekers to lifelong learners as old as 80.
Amit's introductory immersion course meets every weekday morning from 9 to 12. About ten students attend. They include gray-haired men and mothers in their 20s. Many of them, Amit said, never experienced formal schooling before this. Some students nurse injuries from advanced age, or from war-related wounds they sustained in their home countries. Amit brings several throw pillows so these students can pad their chairs for extra comfort.
Amit said much of her efforts go toward preparing students for a standardized test that's tied to the program's funding. She makes sure, though, that she weaves practical information into these lessons. Her students learn how to deal with merchants, landlords and potential employers, and to advocate for themselves and their families.
Later this week I will attend an advanced class taught by John Morson, an ESL instructor who's been working in the Cedar-Riverside community since 2001. I'm very excited to get to know him and his students. In the meantime, I leave you with a photo from Monday.
Posted by Twin Cities Daily Planet on 10/03/10
Randy Stoecker wrote a fascinating book looking at the struggles of the 1970s, from the perspective of the early 1990s. Defending Community: The struggle for alternative redevelopment in Cedar-Riverside goes from the battles over the construction of Riverside Plaza (then called Cedar Square West) in the early 1970s to the rent strikes of the late 1970s, and community organizing in Cedar-Riverside throughout the 20-year time span. Protests against Cedar Square West stopped the project with the construction of Riverside Plaza - the rest of the New Town in Town project was never built.
Writing about the early days:
Much of this ideology was developed by the hippies in the neighborhood. But anti-war activists were also settling in the neighborhood. The early ideological disputes between these factions involved issues more than broad-ranging political programs. The hippies mobilized to save their neighborhood, while the antiwar activists focused their energies on stopping the war in Vietnam. ...And then HUD Secretary George Romney's plans to dedicate Cedar-Square West gave material presence to the developing community ideology beginning to understand the common role of the military-industrial complex in domination and exploitation both at home and abroad.
In the second period of the movement the cry for basic citizen control of the neighborhood became the most obvious outward expression of the community ideology.
Twenty years on, the neighborhood has changed substantially - but his analysis of the "struggle between capital and community" still raises important questions.
You can order the book from Temple University Press, which has a book blurb saying that Cedar-Riverside was "nationally known for a period as 'the Haight-Ashbury of the Mid-West." It appears that you can also read large chunks of the book on Google, though I'm not sure how that works with copyright laws.
As an outreach coordinator for E-Democracy's Cedar-Riverside forum, Julia Nekessa Opoti writes about the fears she has found in the Cedar-Riverside Somali community. She is also a writer for TC Daily Planet's Cedar-Riverside-Seward high-rise series.
When I first started as an outreach coordinator for E-Democracy, I had been writing about the Cedar-Riverside community, particularly its large Somali population, for several years. Over the last several months, I have met with community activists, health care advocates, university employees, students, and residents. I walked from store to store discovering a mall I did not know existed. I even attended neighborhood meetings, neighborhood safety meetings and community events. I spent time at the Brian Coyle Center where I got further acquainted with community organizers. Every Tuesday, I would buy my vegetables from the small farmers’ market These opportunities allowed me an almost-insider’s look into the community.
For the small business I quickly learned that many of the owners did not have an online presence neither did they have emails. In some instances, the store owners and their employees did not speak English making communication a challenge.
Still, I gathered emails where I could, but haven’t seen an increase in member’s posting new content or responding to forum topics. However, a quick glance at forum stats show that readership is steadily increasing. I also found that many of the community organizers are already registered on the forum, but only lurk. I sought to know why.
At an informal meeting with several Somali women I learned that the negative press and abrasive online comments on websites such as the Star Tribune newspaper have resulted in a complete distrust of non-Somali websites. One woman said that as a community organizer, her daily battles are constant, and she did not have the energy to constantly “defend her community.” While E-Democracy forums are facilitated, and users are required to use their real names protecting members from such diatribe, these women are still hesitant to participate.
What about softer, cultural issues like explaining Ramadan, the Muslim holy month of fasting? Again, they spoke about online attack fatigue. As I look ahead to future postings and building trust it will be important to include topics that do not rile up controversy such as profiles of businesses and people in the community; and resources.
E-Democracy is a unique position. Unlike many organizations the forum doesn’t want anything from the community. Not in the literal sense anyway. Of course, for the vibrancy and the posterity of the forum, participation is key. A key factor is making sure that people understand the the forums diversity is only as rich as its member participation.
When Brian Noy posted on the forum about the low sales in the Brian Coyle Center’s farmers’ market, I met with him to see how he could best promote it. He was creative in his postings by featuring a weekly vegetarian recipe. However, the reality was that the people who needed to see it most were not accessing it. His best approach, it turned out, was speaking to community organizers housed at the Brian Coyle Center that I introduced him to that day who could in turn communicate to their different constituencies.
As I continue with my outreach efforts I am keen on developing strategies that would allow the community to trust this particular forum. For a community that is very oral with most information relayed through word of mouth and community gatherings; how does e-democracy fit in? For literate Somalis digital engagement is actually not an issue as there several popular forums (Hirraan, Somalia Online, Somali Life, SomaliNet) and social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook. However, how do we engage them in a wider issues forum like the e-democracy one? Considering digital inclusion, how does e-democracy make a case for communities with little or no access to the Internet?
PS. There are other communities of color, like immigrants of Oromo, Ethiopian, Eriterian, Korean and Mexican descent, in the Cedar Riverside Neighborhood that I will be profiling over the course of the month.a
Kids at National Night Out at Riverside Plaza. E-Democracy.org recruited 15 new forum members that evening using paper sign-up sheets.
Posted by Twin Cities Daily Planet on 09/11/10Riverside Plaza may spark some controversy now - but it's tame, compared to the early days.
Star Tribune reporter Steve Brandt recalled reporting for the Minnesota Daily in 1972, when the dedication of what is now Riverside Plaza was met with violent demonstrations. According to the May 10, 1972 Minnesota Daily:
Seventeen persons were arrested Tuesday as dedication ceremonies at Cedar-Riverside Associate's (CRA) "New Town-in-Town" housing development were disrupted and West Bank traffic stopped by about 600 students and West Bank residents confronting Minneapolis police and CRA representatives ...
A leaflet distributed by demonstrators stated in part:
"Secretary Romney is coming to dedicate Cedar-Riverside Stage One. He is not meeting with the people but only with the private investors. We must make ourselves heard. We must have more to say about what happens in our community."
The Daily reported:
The demands also called for "an end to imperialism here and abroad, self determination for Vietnam and self determination for Cedar-Riverside."
A North Country Co-op coordinator offered to donate three dozen eggs to the demonstration, triggering a discussion of trashing of property and police.
According to the Minnesota Daily, which editorialized against police brutality at the demonstration, clashes between police and protesters ranged from profanity and throwing marshmallows to rock throwing and blocking traffic, met with police removing badges and beating demonstrators and journalists.
Posted by Twin Cities Daily Planet on 09/08/10
On a rainy August morning, the reporting team met at Riverside Plaza for a tour led by long-time Tenant Association director Fredda Scobey. A few numbers:
We'll be back, for in-depth interviews at the grocery store, mosque, school, classrooms, and more.
Are you in any way a part of the Riverside Plaza or Seward Towers communities? If so, we need your help!
The Twin Cities Daily Planet is working on a large, multi-story reporting project on the Riverside Plaza and Seward Towers apartments, located in the heart of the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood. The project will include stories from several writers, focusing on the following topics:
Do you live or work in the Cedar-Riverside or Seward neighborhood? Do you have any experience working with immigrant populations in these neighborhoods? Are you a part of the religious or cultural life of the area? Have you worked in or with a government agency that dealt with issues related to the Riverside Plaza or Seward Towers community? If you have stories, contacts, and information, please contact the reporters listed above.
And you can help us fund this reporting - just go to Spot.Us and click on a link to donate. Or you can earn credits to fund the story - click on "earn credits" on the Spot.Us page and then take the survey - you can donate $10 this way without spending your own money!
Posted by Twin Cities Daily Planet on 08/16/10
