“An afternoon with Ahmed Ismail Yusuf”

League of Women Voters Park Rapids Area and Beagle & Wolf Books are excited to present “An afternoon with Ahmed Ismail Yusuf”.  Mr. Yusuf will discuss his personal immigrant story from Somalia to America and his new book The Lion’s Binding Oath.  Come join us at 3 pm on June 19th at the Northwoods Bank Community Room: 1200 1st St E, Park Rapids, MN 56470.  The program will last about an hour and half including time for questions. All programs are handicapped accessible and refreshments will be served.

Ahmed Ismail Yusuf arrived in America from Somalia as a high-school dropout, unable to speak English, and unsure of his actual age. He has lived in Minneapolis, Minnesota since 1997. Today he has two college degrees and is the author of Somalis in Minnesota, published by the Minnesota Historical Society Press, and Gorgorkii Yimi, a collection of stories in Somali, published by Ponte Invisible.  In February 2018, The History Theatre of St. Paul, Minnesota produced his play, “A Crack in the Sky,” a memoir about how Yusuf found inspiration in Maya Angelou and Malcolm X during his early days as an immigrant to the U.S.

Yusuf’s most recent work, The Lion’s Binding Oath, documents a country coming apart yet reveals its deep pride and a quiet hope despite the instability.  Yusuf hopes that his work shines a light on both the immigrant journey as well as the Somali people and the legacy of his homeland.

 League of Women Voters Park Rapids Area  (LWVPRA), a non-partisan volunteer organization, whose mission is to encourage informed and active participation in government. We influence public policy through education and advocacy which includes supporting activities to preserve the nation’s natural resources. Programs are always free and open to the public.

If you have any questions about the program contact Beagle & Wolf Books.  If you have any questions about LWVPRA activities, events or on how to join LWVPRA (not for women only), email  lwvparkrapids@lwvmn.org. Follow our activities, events on our website: http://lwvparkrapidsarea.blogspot.com/

Civic Engagement: The Key to Improving our democracy?

As this next election cycle approaches, many people are thinking what can we do to improve our democracy?   Some people think that having citizens become more engaged is the answer.

According to the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project survey of 2012, only half (48%) of  American adults directly took part in a civic group or activity in the 12 months preceding. The survey measured several broad categories of civic activity that Americans might engage in.
 This includes anyone who did one or more of the following six activities:
    •    35% of American adults have recently worked with fellow citizens to solve a problem
          in their community


    •    22% have attended a political meeting on local, town, or school affairs



    •    13% have been an active member of a group that tries to influence  the  public or
           government



    •    10% have attended a political rally or speech



    •    7% have worked or volunteered for a political party or candidate



    •    6% have attended an organized protest

Therefore the next question is what can be done to change these statistics?  One way is to join an organization such as League of Women Voters.. We are non partisan which means we don't support specific candidates or political parties, but we do research issues, help educate the public and lobby for changes especially on issues surrounding our democracy, and our voting systems. 

If you want to make a difference in Hubbard County,  come find out more about League of Women Voters Park Rapids Area and what we do to support our local elections.  Join us for our Annual Meeting: May 10th, 2018.

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Park Rapids: A MN GreenStep City?

To learn more, come to the free program Thursday, April 19, 6 pm at Northwoods Bank in Park Rapids.  Sponsored by the League of Women Voters of the Park Rapids Area, Mellissa Birch, Central Coordinator for Clean Energy Resource Teams, will be the featured speaker.  Light refreshments will be served.

Starting in 2007 with statewide listening sessions, the idea was raised of creating a free sustainable cities program that would challenge, assist and recognize cities that were "green stars." In 2008 the Minnesota Legislature directed the MPCA and others to recommend actions cities could take on a voluntary basis. Representatives from dozens of cities, non-profit organizations, businesses and state government agencies provided the outline for what has been developed as the Minnesota GreenStep Cities program in 2010.  Over forty percent of Minnesota citizens presently live in a total of 120 GreenStep Cities, mostly in the metro areas but also scattered throughout rural Minnesota.

Simply put, Minnesota GreenStep Cities is a free and voluntary program that provides a simple pathway to help cities achieve their sustainability goals through implementation of best practices focused on cost savings, energy use reduction, and innovation.  The program provides a list of twenty-nine best practices, divided into the categories of Buildings and Lighting, Transportation, Land Use, Environmental Management, and Economic and Community Development.   The twenty-nine best practices are further divided into more than 170 more specific best practices which can be chosen by a city as fits into the particular city’s needs.  But, what’s this “Step” business?
When a city government formally joins the GreenStep program through a city resolution, it is considered a Step One City. Cities that implement a minimum number of best practices of their choice will be recognized as Step Two Cities.  Completion of a few high-priority actions merits Step Three recognition.  Measuring city performance metrics will garner Step Four and Step Five recognition.  Cities will be credited for sustainability actions completed prior to joining the GreenStep program. 

GreenStep Cities receive peer recognition at the League of Minnesota Cities Annual Conference.  Accomplishments of member cities will be visible on the GreenStep web site, the most comprehensive web site in Minnesota devoted to city sustainability.  But best of all, citizens of GreenStep Cities know that their city is using best practices to achieve among other things, energy and cost saving strategies, natural resource preservation, efficient city growth, walkable and bikeable neighborhoods, well managed urban forests, good water quality, community resiliency, and sustainable economic development. For more information: www.mngreenstep.org. 

If you have any questions about LWVPRA activities, events or on how to join LWVPRA (not for women only), email  lwvparkrapids@lwvmn.org. Follow our activities, events on our website: http://lwvparkrapidsarea.blogspot.com/

Concerned about our Election Intregrity?

Join us to hear Steve Simon,  Minnesota Secretary of State, as he explains what is happening with elections in Minnesota..

A citizen’s most powerful tool in civic engagement is the right to vote.

It is important that we all  learn how to protect that right.  Tuesday, March 13 (1 pm at Park Theater), LWV PRA and Headwaters Center for Lifelong Learning will present a joint program on Election Integrity with Steve Simon, Minnesota’s Secretary of State. As Minnesota’s chief elections administrator, he has pledged to “work with anyone, of any political affiliation, from any part of our state” to protect, defend and strengthen the right to vote in Minnesota.
    According to Simon, Minnesota has rigorous safety measures in place before, on and after Election Day to ensure elections are fair and secure. Voting integrity is an important cornerstone of democracy.
    Simon will address the questions of: What are the safeguards for our election system? Can we be hacked? What does hacking exactly mean? How do we make sure there is no fraud in our registration and voting system?   What do we need to do to improve our voting system? What are our responsibilities as citizens to maintain the integrity of our elections? Is the legislature putting forth any bills with changes for our election system in 2018?

League of Women Voters Park Rapids Area (LWVPRA) is a non-partisan volunteer organization, whose mission is to encourage informed and active participation in the community through education. Please direct any questions about LWVPRA activities, events or on how to join LWVPRA (remember it's not for women only) by emailing lwvparkrapids@lwvmn.org. Follow League activities, events at http://lwvparkrapidsarea.blogspot.com.

Has your interest in government and poltics been recently awaken?

In a COMMENTARY article written by Lee Hamilton, Center on Representative Government, and published by the Enterprise on Feb 10th, he explains,   “Citizens today carry an extra burden – not merely to pick a politician we might favor for some reason, but to make choices that move us away from ideology and our own biases, and toward getting this country running again.”  This is a huge responsibility, and a citizen must have an understanding of how  government is set up, what the responsibilities of a government are, and what  citizens can do to make changes?  These kinds of  questions were answered in our high school civics class, but for some of us, it has been a long time since we were in civics class.

One remedy to this quandary is civic engagement which is vital to keeping our democracy healthy: 

Sign up for the Community Education Class: Becoming an Engaged Citizen (What citizens need to know about their government)

 

Thursdays from March 1 to March 22. Classes will run from 6:30 to 8 p.m. at the Frank White Education Center. Carolynne White and Barb Wiebesick of the League of Women Voters Park Rapids will lead the classes. 

There will be 4 sessions: 
Session I: will provide an overview

•  of the Constitution, 
• of voting procedures and safeguards to voting procedures,
• of political parties and campaigns. 

Session II: will cover

•  “fake news/ basic fact” checking 
•  skills for effectively communicating with government officials (petitions, letters, emails, etc).

Session III  will cover the legislative process from the federal to the local level.

Session IV will wrap up with

• explanations of local boards, commissions and councils 
• how a citizen can get involved. 

 Register by calling 218-237-6600 or go to www.parkrapidscomed.com.

BRINGING IT HOME: IMMIGRATION IN OUR AREA

Thursday, February 15, 2018, the Park Rapids Area League of Women Voters (LWV PRA) will present “Bringing it Home: Immigration in our Area.”

The event will combine a dynamic guest speaker and a panel discussion with local persons to give audience members the chance to ask questions and engage in a conversation about this important topic. LWV PRA anticipates this program to be of great interest in light of current events and the controversy surrounding immigration and immigration law.

The program will begin at 6:00 pm at the Northwoods Bank Community Room, 1200 E. 1st. St, in Park Rapids, MN, with refreshments available at 5:30 pm. The League of Women Voters is offering this FREE event to increase understanding and encourage area voters to be better informed on this major public policy issue.

The evening’s guest speaker will be Martha Castañon, of the Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota (ILCM) in Moorhead, MN, an office that opened in 2016. Martha was born and raised in rural Moorhead, but began school knowing only three words of English; “Hi, Bye, and OK.” Her family worked in the sugar beet fields of Minnesota, picked cucumbers in Wisconsin and worked in the onion and spinach fields of Texas.

Martha brings more than 35 years of experience in immigration law to ILCM. As a life-long member of the Moorhead community, Martha has witnessed the changing demographics of Minnesota as immigrant groups arrived. During the 1970s, the Moorhead area saw the growth of the Latino community, and in the 1980s, increases in Hmong, Vietnamese, and Cambodian populations. Over the years, Bosnian, Somali, and Kurdish populations in Moorhead have also expanded as these groups were granted refugee status and resettled in Minnesota.


The League’s February 15th event is an attempt to focus on immigration and engage in civil discourse about it as a matter of urgent public policy. What is the impact of immigration in our area? What is it like to be an immigrant in Minnesota today? What is it like to be an immigrant in the Park Rapids area? Audience members will hear Martha’s riveting story of her experiences as an immigrant, and working with immigrants in our area, as well as personal stories shared by a panel of people from our area about how immigration law and policy has affected them.

LWV Minnesota supports incorporating immigrants into our communities by providing access to education, endorsing the development of secure identification documents, and respecting the right of law enforcement personnel to perform their duties without the burden of interpreting federal immigration policies. For more information about LWV PRA, please contact Carolynne White, President, 218-732-9819, or see the website: http://lwvparkrapidsarea.blogspot.com/ facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LeagueOfWomenVotersParkRapidsStateUnit/

You Can Protect Our Democracy? Attend your caucus!

One of the main functions of a local League of Women Voters unit is to educate the public on local issues and ways to participate.  League itself is non partisan; we do not support any political party or candidate. But we encourage all citizens/voters to participate in their precinct caucuses and the election process. Engaged citizens, who follow and try to understand the process, can make informed decisions. In the last election cycle, only about 10 percent of registered voters turned out to help decide who would be their parties’ candidates.

After the last round of elections in 2016, I personally heard many friends state:

• that they chose between the lesser of two evils
• they didn’t like either candidate
• there is no real choice: the candidates are all the same

People who expressed these feelings often decide not to vote. But not participating is not fixing the problem. We allowed 10 percent of the people to do the planning.

On Feb 6, all voters who are eligible to vote in the November elections have an opportunity to change this scenario. Attend your local precinct caucus.  

By law precinct caucuses are meetings run by Minnesota’s major and minor political parties. The caucus is the first in a series of meetings where parties may endorse candidates, select delegates and set goals and values (called party platforms).

You don’t need to already be a member of a particular party. A voter can change which party they identify with. The major political parties do expect that participants pledge to support the party in the upcoming election.

Political parties run their caucus meetings a little differently. So please watch for further information from each party as to place, time and rules for your party’s caucus.

During the caucus, participants will vote on resolutions (value or policy statements) that will be included in the platform, and choose their preference for candidates within the party for each office.  Both parties will have a preference ballot (also called a straw poll) for candidates for governor this year.

Then participants choose delegates who will endorse candidates at future conventions. At the district and state conventions, party delegates will endorse state and federal candidates, including  Governor and Lieutenant Governor, state constitutional offices and Congress.

Know your Rights:

• You have the right to take time off work to be at a precinct caucus or political party convention (if you’re a delegate or alternate). You must give your employer 10 days’ written notice.
• Public universities, community colleges, and public schools cannot hold classes or events after 6 p.m. on the evening of precinct caucuses
  
  Other Links about Caucuses:
  (these are not all from LWV sources but are local information)
  
  Clean Up the River Environment (CURE) Training sessions for Caucuses
• Power Point Presentation on Caucuses 
• Secretary of State's web page on caucuses 
• DFL Caucus information
  
  • DFL Caucuses Times and Places 

•  GOP Caucus information