Josie Johnson: risk taker, trailblazer, equality champion, role model
Josie R. Johnson has made an indelible imprint on our nation, and I am proud that the Humphrey School is commemorating her contributions.
Community Voices
Minnesota knows the way to cut carbon — now we need the will
Twelve years. That’s all the time we have to make one degree of change.
The Constitution should not protect a right to lie in politics
Once lies have been circulated, especially in a social media era, they are hard to correct, and evidence suggests deception travels more quickly and deeper than the truth.
Minnesota needs to bring new energy to preschool efforts
Roughly half of Minnesota kids are not fully prepared to succeed when they begin kindergarten, and too many of them never do catch up.
Gun violence: It’s the one issue that affects everyone, every day
If there were ever an issue that needed your support, it’s gun violence prevention. It’s now a matter of civic responsibility.
Nonviolence as a different kind of power
The alternative to fury and dominating power is nonviolence. Nonviolence cultivates the spiritual, moral, and psychological discipline not to demonize opponents.
Exploring connections: food, farming and climate change
As the climate has changed, growing vegetables has become increasingly difficult. I have personally felt the impact of climate change in my work as a grower.
Maybe it can’t happen here, but fasten your seatbelts anyway
Now that the traumatic process of adding a new justice to the U.S. Supreme Court is finally over, we can ask what this might mean for the court, the presidency and the country.
Where’s the outrage for her?
Her letters stopped. Thirty years later, we had a chance encounter, and I learned the real reason she had so suddenly disappeared from my life.
Thanks, you’re a voter! Now what?
Voting is the baseline civic duty this year. But this year in particular, it’s not enough.
The making of a tent city
It’s time for people with housing to not cling to the story they heard that someone chooses to be homeless or that it’s too expensive to fix.
Disabled workers: Proposed DEED rule limits our options
DEED thinks it knows what’s good for us, but it doesn’t. It should work to expand employment opportunities for people with disabilities by leaving the choice of what type of employment best suits us to us.
Finding ME in Minnesota
In 2016, I was diagnosed with myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME). My first thought was, what is that??
U.S. nationalism: not a laughing matter
Our future is uncertain. It demands a realistic assessment of our role in the world and what that means for us at home.
A University of Minnesota president for this time
I hope this new president challenges Minnesota in ways that make us uncomfortable and enable us as a state to do more and be better.
Militarizing Minnesota over Line 3
Times are changing, the militarization of police is on the increase, and pressure by Chilean mining and pipeline companies to militarize northern Minnesota is bearing fruit.
Keys to African development: education, partners abroad
Despite all the talk about Chinese investment in Africa, America remains our preferred partner.
What (copper) mine do you support?
It is time for U.S. consumers, including those in Minnesota, to involve themselves in responsible sourcing of materials. It should not be acceptable to simply say “not here because this place is special to me.”
Our senators must fight efforts to weaken water protections
We’re counting on Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith to reject any regulatory rollbacks that put Minnesota’s clean water in jeopardy.
Keep chronic-pain patients in mind when addressing opioid issues
There is ample evidence that our country has an illicit-opioid problem, not a prescription-opioid problem.