John Poupart: Work on strengthening American Indian communities honored by McKnight Foundation

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“Our oral history defines who we are. Our language comes from the Creator as a gift to us as a people, and we are the original people of the Western Hemisphere. We have an oral history maintained by the language,” says John Poupart of West Saint Paul, president of the American Indian Policy Center and facilitator for the Dakota-Ojibwe Language Revitalization Alliance (DOLRA), one of the few statewide indigenous language revival efforts in the United States. He has worked there since 1994.   On Thursday, August 27, at a special ceremony in Minneapolis, John Poupart will receive the McKnight Foundation’s Virginia McKnight Binger Award in Human Service, along with five other nominees . Continue Reading

MN VOICES | Artist, activist Ricardo Levins Morales

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After 30 years, the Northland Poster Collective is closing its doors, ending a rich history of using art to create political change for social movements. Ricardo Levins Morales, one of the founders of the collective, shares his reflections on the organization’s history and his plans for the future. Morales, a Puerto Rican-born graphic artist, went from drawing chickens on his small family farm in Puerto Rico to using his art to create leaflets for such political movements as the Black Panthers and anti-war efforts in Chicago. After dropping out of high school, he moved to Boston and became involved in various labor movements, eventually finding himself in Minneapolis, where he and a few fellow artists decided to create a poster collective to link artists to social justice organizing. In September, he’ll be opening his own studio in Minneapolis, where he will continue to be involved in activist, educational, and artistic projects . Continue Reading

MN VOICES | Louis King and HIRE

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Created only four months ago, HIRE MN (Healthcare, Infrastructure and Renewable Energy), a grassroots coalition of community organizations pushing for public investments for new green jobs with living wages while promoting more environmentally sustainable communities, has been turning out hundreds of people at their town-hall meetings. How has HIRE MN been so successful in mobilizing hundreds of Minnesotans in such a short time? I sat down with the dynamic founder of HIRE MN, Louis J. King at his office at Summit Academy OIC to find out. TCDP: How did the idea for HIRE MN come about? Louis J. King: When I look at things I don’t just look at them for where they are now, I think about where they’re going to be tomorrow, a month from now, a year from now, and where do I want them to be? Continue Reading

MN VOICES | Francisco Segovia makes his mark in El Salvador and MN

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“Don’t just sit down and keep the seat warm. Do something.” That was what a high school teacher told Francisco Segovia, director of the Waite House Community Center in South Minneapolis. The phrase has stuck with Segovia throughout his experiences teaching in El Salvador, adjusting to life in the United States, and in his role as a community organizer in Minnesota.Francisco Segovia taught elementary school in El Salvador and was attending university there when a civil war broke out that lasted 12 years and cost 75,000 to 80,000 lives. Segovia fled the country and came to Minnesota where he learned English and went to college (again). At Normandale Community College. Continue Reading

MN VOICES | Idil Abdull: Somali mother and autism activist

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Idil Abdull has been making headlines in the past few months for her role in bringing awareness to the issue of autism in the Somali community. One of the founders of the Somali American Autism Foundation, Abdull has been sounding the alarm about the large numbers of Somali American children struggling with autism. Last week, the MN Department of Health issued a report confirming the high numbers, though they say the link between ethnicity and the disease is inconclusive. Abdull is searching for answers, and building awareness in her community. But Abdull is not unused to struggle. Continue Reading

Amina Saleh builds bridges

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She survived Somali’s civil war, spent years in a Kenyan refugee camp and is a single mother in a strange country, but Amina Saleh’s biggest challenge is getting people to talk to each other.As a community organizer, Saleh works for a Somali population that often finds itself at odds with the greater metro area around it. For example, even Family & Children’s Service (FCS), the non-profit agency Saleh works for, supports GLBT causes—a lifestyle strictly prohibited by Islamic law. It’s part of Saleh’s job to make sure groups like these acknowledge and respect each other. “She’s really good at bringing people to a table who might not otherwise want to be at the table with each other,” said Jeff Bauer, Saleh’s boss and director of community & systems change at FCS. From adjusting to the American way of life to dealing with more diverse neighbors, Saleh uses her ethnic, personal and educational background to serve her community. Continue Reading