Tag: Behaving Well

I’m just walkin’ here.

It was deafening. It was exhilarating. It was pure. It was a necessary primal scream against the brutality visited upon people of color over centuries in the United States of America.

Feet on the ground for #BlackLivesMatter and #OneFargo

I could live a thousand white lives like mine and never understand what Black people have endured in this country.

Even so, I can do my part to ensure the wrongs don’t continue to repeat and repeat and repeat, over and over and over again, keeping Black and other people of color down in our society.

What can I do?

I can walk, for one.

So, yeah. I’m just walkin’ here.

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Yesterday, I marched with my wife and our two daughters in the Black Lives Matter – Fargo/Moorhead and OneFargo March for Justice. It was an amazing, energizing experience.

Continue reading “I’m just walkin’ here.”

Racial Profiling in the Heartland

When a police officer stops a white woman for a minor infraction and asks to see her black passenger’s ID, is it justified? No, it’s racial profiling. And it’s illegal.

Passengering While Black/Brown (PWB). Or Is It Plain Ol’ LWB?

The police officer approached the idling car from behind in a Fargo, N.D., parking lot off of 13th Avenue South. He flipped on his flashers, opened his door and approached the vehicle. Continue reading “Racial Profiling in the Heartland”

Mr. Bison on the Radio

Image that accompanies CLICK TO LISTEN – Jason Anderson, host of “The Solidarity Effect” on Radio Free Fargo 95.9 FM, reads “Mr. Bison Goes to Washington” on air.

“The Solidarity Effect” host and IV Words friend Jason Anderson shared “Mr. Bison Goes to Washington” on Radio Free Fargo, FM 95.9 this morning.

I grabbed a (ghastly quality) recording – click to listen.

Thank you, Jason Anderson, “The Solidarity Effect” and Radio Free Fargo. Keep tellin’ it like it is!

Personal logo of Martin C. Fredricks IV

© Martin C. Fredricks IV, 2019

Mr. Bison Goes to Washington

The North Dakota State University Bison football team is going to Washington, D.C. What an honor. Now, if only…

If Only They Were Going to Be Greeted by a Fellow Champion

NDSU’s football team is going to Washington, D.C. Good for them. If any athlete or sports team deserves it, the Bison do. Fifteen national titles and seven of the last eight. Wow.

No matter who the president is, being invited to the White House is an honor.

Or so someone recently pointed out. Made my skin crawl at first. But I’ve come around.

Continue reading “Mr. Bison Goes to Washington”

A Good Day for UND & North Dakota

The State Board of Educations’s actions on May 14, 2009, regarding the University of North Dakota nickname demonstrated a return to conviction, a restoration of the pride that will not allow North Dakota to be bullied, regardless of how much money is at stake.

State Board of Education Accelerates Tribal Approval Deadline for Fighting Sioux Nickname

“A sad day for North Dakota,” Kris Engelstad McGarry called it. With all due respect to McGarry, many North Dakotans view it as a day of redemption when some sense was restored to a state that thrives on common sense.

McGarry, daughter of the late Ralph Engelstad, referred to the North Dakota State Board of Higher Education’s May 14 decision to accelerate the deadline for tribal approval of the University of North Dakota Fighting Sioux nickname. If the two North Dakota Sioux tribes do not approve 30-year agreements to support continued use of the name by October, UND must begin transitioning to a new moniker and symbol.

It is a belated redemption because the current board has taken a positive step to correct the action of the board of December 2000.

Continue reading “A Good Day for UND & North Dakota”