OUR STORIES | Playwright, aerial artist discusses upcoming play, “There Are Other Worlds”

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Junauda Petrus is cofounder of Free Black Dirt, an arts collective for black women and women of color in the Twin Cities. She is also the playwright of an upcoming play, “There Are Other Worlds,” directed by Alejanda Tobar-Alatriz.The play features an all-black women cast, and integrates aerial arts and movement.The play’s protagonist, Amri Akenyemi, is an African American woman in her mid-40s from the South, who is incarcerated for 15 years because of her political activism. Incarceration affects Amri’s relationship with her daughter, which Petrus explains is the play’s effort to shed light on how the prison industrial complex affects black women, and the black community as a whole.Petrus also discusses some of the challenges of being a black female actress and aerial artist, and why she chose to select an all-black women’s cast.”There Are Other Worlds” is funded by the Cultural Community Partnership Grant through the MN State Arts Board. For more information on the play and to purchase tickets, go to freeblackdirt.com. The play will take place at Open Eye Theatre in Minneapolis, April 25-28.   Continue Reading

OUR STORIES | Sudanese American Aya Elmileik on her experiences with Festival of Nations

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Aya Elmileik, a Sudanese American from Rochester, Minnesota, shares her perspectives and experiences on attending previous Festival of Nations, and what she looks forward to this year. The recent University of Minnesota graduate has been attending the festival almost every year since high school, and now works as the festival’s social media manager. In her opinion, more outreach needs to be done to African communities in Minnesota – particularly the Sudanese community – in preparation for the festival this year.The Festival of Nations will be held May 2-5, 2013. Check out the Festival of Nations blog, which features various acts and booths coming to the festival this year. Reporting for this article supported in part by Bush Foundation. Continue Reading

OUR STORIES | Veterans hold anti-drone rally in Cedar-Riverside

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Veterans for Peace, an organization that works to educate Americans on alternatives to war and the cost of war, held an anti-drone protest in the Cedar Riverside neighborhood in Minneapolis in late March. In this video, two members of Veterans for Peace talk about the purpose of the rally, why they think drones are unethical, and what Americans need to know. Bruce Berry is a member of Veterans for Peace who served in Vietnam, and Leah Bolger spent 20 years on active duty in the U.S. Navy, and is the former president of Veterans for Peace.Bolger also spent some time with a delegation in Pakistan to see firsthand how drones have affected communities there. She talks about her experiences in the video.The anti-drone rally began outside Mapps Coffee on Riverside Avenue, and participants then marched around the neighborhood.Click here for more information about the local Veterans for Peace chapter.Reporting for this article supported in part by Bush Foundation. Continue Reading

OUR STORIES | Beaudelaine Pierre takes lead on building the Haitian diaspora community in Minnesota

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Meet Beaudelaine Pierre, a Haitian diasporan living in Minnesota who is working toward bringing the Haitian community in Minnesota together. She wants to create a more organized and unified Haitian diaspora in the Twin Cities, which is separated by both geography and internal struggles.Pierre is passionate about building relationships with other Haitians in Minnesota, and creating spaces for members of her diaspora community to support and learn about each other. Her ultimate goal is to help Haitians in Minnesota build themselves so that they can begin to help Haitians back home. But that cannot happen until the community here is strong, she said.Pierre currently works with women and immigrant communities as a coordinator in a leadership program for girls, and as women’s program coordinator for a non-profit called Women’s Initiative for Self-Empowerment (WISE). She also brings her lived experiences and expertise working in development, nonprofits and journalism in Haiti. So far, Pierre has helped convene two community meetings to discuss issues affecting the Haitian community in Minnesota. The first meeting was at the Minnesota Humanities center in November, and the second took place at the Wilder Foundation in mid-March. Continue Reading

What did Kenyan Minnesotans think of the election in Kenya?

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Kenya’s presidential election has garnered much international media attention in the past few weeks, and Kenyans in the diaspora have been an integral part of the conversation. Whether through the Twitter hashtag “#KenyaDecides,” or through Facebook and Youtube, Kenyans worldwide have ensured their voices are heard, including Minnesota’s considerable Kenyan community. Three Kenyan diasporans living in Minnesota shared their views on video with the Twin Cities Daily Planet to briefly discuss their thoughts on the Kenyan election. They are:Julia Nekessa Opoti is a Twin Cities resident and journalist.Charlene Bogonko is a University of Minnesota student and Twin Cities resident.Bundi Ikaio is an international student at the University of Minnesota from Kenya.Our respondents each have different backgrounds, different relationships to Kenya, and various views on the election and international media coverage of the country’s election process.Uhuru Kenyatta, who is currently facing charges by the International Criminal Court, won the election by a narrow margin, according to the official announcement. The 2013 election is significant because it is the first presidential election since the 2007 vote. Continue Reading

Twin Cities Somalis despair over hawala closures

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Amina Hassan hasn’t felt this helpless in a long time. A refugee who fled Somali 20 years ago and now an American citizen, the middle-aged single mother can’t send remittances to her impoverished relatives in Somalia anymore.Hassan is one of thousands of Minnesota Somalis who have despaired ever since the shut-down of Somali-owned money services businesses (MSBs) in the Twin Cities two weeks ago.“We want to support our people in the civil war. There’s sickness, there are mothers and children dying,” she said. “We want to help our kids. We want to help our people.”Hassan has a sister and three cousins in Somalia, aged five, six and nine. Continue Reading

OPINION | Don’t devalue, defund or deprioritize diversity

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As a freshman at the University of Minnesota four years ago, I remember my eagerness for the opportunities offered to me as an underprivileged student. Between the services at the Multicultural Center for Academic Excellence and the cultural centers in Coffman Union, I found my niche, despite the general lack of campus diversity. Now as a fourth-year student of color and a first-generation college student, I’m frustrated with my university. This is because in the past 10 years, the opportunities minorities need to succeed have been defunded, devalued and deprioritized. Diversity at this university is in a crisis, and it’s less about tough economic times than it is about the Bruininks administration’s flawed priorities and poor decision making. Continue Reading