"Yes, MAAM" is Roxanne Givens' favorite phrase as she hits up potential benefactors for the Minnesota African American Museum.

Women don't always enjoy admission to "The Ma'am Club," but Givens is highlighting it as she raises money for the museum scheduled to open June 1 with "Bringing It Home -- Black 'n' Brown Baseball in Minnesota and Beyond." She is a founder of the museum but, "I always say, 'I'm just carrying the water. There are many people who have worked to make this happen.' I've been passionately volunteering for 2 1/2 years, honey! Give me some money."

The museum is at 1700 3rd Av. S., the Amos B. Coe residence, an 1884 brick Queen Anne-style manse that is on the National Register of Historic Places.

"As I go to funders and ask for dollars and volunteers and all sorts of things, we just tell them to say, 'Yes, MAAM,'" said Givens. "Dropping the 'the,' we call ourselves MAAM. The acronym is M-A-A-M. We have our little 'Yes MAAM' buttons that we hand out. Loving it, loving it."

The museum's inaugural show takes visitors from the late 1800s to about 2000. "There are these individuals, the greatest players to swing a bat you have never heard of. We have an opportunity to share their seldom-told stories. There were a lot of barn-storming brothers and a couple women out there who had played all over this state and the Midwest. John Donaldson, the best left-handed pitcher, probably a better pitcher than Satchel Paige but because of segregation of the major and minor leagues, there were only a handful of African-Americans able to make it during those times. The other exciting part of that is that baseball teams, the Keystones and the St. Paul Colored Gophers, were actually owned by African-American entrepreneurs. This was their business. They hired from within the community. This was the thing to do on Sunday afternoon. This whole baseball movement was a precursor to Civil Rights. It's a huge story."

I was getting more information about the opening exhibit than her brother Archie Givens, president of the Givens Foundation and CEO of Legacy Management and Development Corp.

A couple of months ago when I ran into Archie at St. Louis Park's Costco where I'm always seeing him -- "That's your and his favorite place," said Roxanne -- he complained that his sister wouldn't tell him her plans for the opening.

One of Roxanne's husky guffaws prefaces this: "That's only because he hasn't been around. He's too busy doing his thing. We just haven't had a chance to take a break, to catch up. But he claims that's what everybody asks him wherever he goes. It's no longer about him, it's all about the museum."

Since Archie lodged his complaint right in front of his wife, Carol, Yes MAAM, Roxanne, I took your brother seriously.

Brand loyalty?"Publicity stunt? Publicity stunt? That's not the Kim Kardashian I know," David Letterman said, sarcastically, of speculation that her brand's romance with Kanye West's brand might be a fauxmance.

One thing I know, the slogan for money-mad Kimye could be: Romance without finance is a nuisance.

Things seem so quiet on the Kardashian-Kris Humphries divorce-annulment front, it might lead one to think the judge has issued a gag order while the sides negotiate how many millions Hump will receive.

Designing menShakopee-based fashion designer Christopher Straub and Ronnie Cooper shared a semi-sweet moment as 250 guests mingled at a private party celebrating the opening of "Happy Chic" NYC designer Jonathan Adler's new store in Uptown. Among the items for sale at Adler's first Minnesota store is the book written by his husband, Simon Doonan. Doonan wrote "Gay Men Don't Get Fat," a witty paean to gay wisdom probably inspired by Miereille Guiliano's 2004 "French Women Don't Get Fat."

"I would hope that if you had a store," Straub said to Cooper, "I could get my stuff in it, no matter what the store was."

Ronnie, a super-silent type who installs microscopes at universities around the world, curled his lip in a slight Elvis snarl while his left hand made the universal gesture for Maybe. Maybe not.

All kidding aside, Straub and Cooper are holding off a search for a new piece of land on which to build another home until after the November election. Minnesotans will vote on a constitutional amendment that would define marriage as a union between a woman and a man, which would essentially be a ban on gay marriage.

After North Carolina approved an amendment against gay marriage Tuesday, Straub took to Twitter.com to state: "If Minnesota votes the same way as North Carolina did ... I'm outta here. I'm absolutely serious."

C.J. is at 612.332.TIPS or cj@startribune.com. E-mailers, please state a subject -- "Hello" doesn't count. Attachments are not opened, so don't even try. More of her attitude can be seen on FOX 9's "Buzz" Thursday morning.