The Alley Newspaper

These articles originally appeared in “The Alley,” the newspaper for the Phillips neighborhood of Minneapolis.

Timing is Everything

I’ve had a hard time settling on a topic for this month’s column. I’m writing this about a week after the election, which is obviously a significant event, and the implications of the election results are big enough that I should probably say something. But you won’t read this until at least a couple of […]

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Meaning What You Say

I recently attended a meeting put on by the Minnesota Interagency Council on Homelessness (MICH). As is common these days, the meeting began with a land acknowledgement, which is a statement recognizing that what is now Minnesota was and is the homeland for various Native American tribes. The wording of a land acknowledgement is up

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For the Love of Language

I have recently been reminded of the complexities of communicating with others, and the value of improving our abilities to communicate. A few days ago, a conversation about foreign languages started at Peace House Community. Well, it was supposed to be about foreign languages; we spent the first 15 minutes talking about our own language

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Apologies

I need to make some apologies after my article in the Alley last month. The article praised Ventura Village, but when I wrote the article I forgot that the Alley serves many neighborhoods, not just Ventura Village. The Alley staff recognized the problem, but because I submitted my article so close to the deadline, they

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In Praise of Ventura Village

This article may sound like I’m currying favor, or being really self-serving, but I want to praise what I see in the Alley and in Ventura Village. When I started writing articles for the Alley five years or so ago, I didn’t really expect anyone to read them. I thought this was a small neighborhood

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A Common Humanity

It was about forty yards to the gallows. I watched the bare brown back of the prisoner marching in front of me. He walked clumsily with his bound arms, but quite steadily, with that bobbing gait of the Indian who never straightens his knees. At each step his muscles slid neatly into place, the lock

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A Hopeful Sign

Like many people in this part of Minneapolis, I am continually reminded of the challenges facing our neighborhoods. High crime rates, limited resources, livability crimes, drug use…. you know the list as well as I do. Aside from my personal observations, I hear about the challenges the members at Peace House Community deal with every

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Embracing Failure

Anything worth doing is worth doing poorly at first. It’s worth doing poorly many times until you get good at it.-Paul Tracy (or maybe it was Zig Ziglar; I can’t remember which one said it.) Go on failing. Go on. Only next time, try to fail better. -Samuel Beckett As someone who grew up receiving

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We Need Each Other

Among my other duties, I help coordinate the adult education series at the church that I attend. This fall and winter we have had various congregation members speak about the intersection of their vocation and their faith. In other words, how does their faith affect their work, and how does their work help them see

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